EI rumour puzzles trainer

TRAINER Peter Rixon is struggling to dismiss the spectre of equine influenza as he prepares for next year's InterDominion Pacing Championship in Melbourne.
Rixon is the trainer-driver of Divisive, arguably NSW's best hope of snaring Australasian harness racing's most coveted prize.
But his quest for the coveted prize will be derailed if a rumoured incident of EI on his doorstep is confirmed.
Rixon yesterday revealed he has been inundated with calls asking how his stable is coping with the virus.
"They say there is a case of it here at Pheasants Nest but, although I know most people in the district who have horses, I don't know anybody whose horses have caught the virus," he said.
"I am just trying to push it out of my mind and press ahead with my plans for the InterDominion."

  
IN the countdown to the InterDominion, NSW Harness Racing Club CEO John Dumesny says it is "crunch time" for Harold Park to be approved as a quarantine facility.
Victorian officials have decreed horses coming from Queensland and NSW, the two EI infected states, will have to complete up to a fortnight in quarantine in their home state before spending a similar term in quarantine after crossing the Victorian border.
Dumesny yesterday said his club had been frsutrated by the delay in receiving DPI approval for Harold Park as a quarantine site.
"We have nominated three horses, Divisive, Make Me Smile and Karloo Mick, as the top fancies expected to take advantage of the facility," he said.
"Time is rapidly running out for the connections of thoses horses to make arrangements for their quarantine."
Harold Park is not in a "Green Zone" which is technically the ideal place for a quarantine facility.
But it is the most appropriate precinct under the circumstances.
There has been no racing there since August, there are no horses stabled within the vicinity and no horses train on the track.
"There is no more appropriate place for these elite horses to be confined," Dumesny said.
"You can't nominate another facility in this state which is as isolated from stabling areas as Harold Park is."

By Bill Ellis
November 16, 2007 12:00am