End is nigh for equine influenza

BRISBANE'S leading trainer Robert Heathcote couldn't contain his excitement when a horse float entered his Hendra yard yesterday.

The horse movement signifies a start to the end of the equine influenza nightmare which has crippled the industry.

Heathcote was first to appreciate Queensland Racing Ltd's September 24 announcement that the flu had spread to southeast Queensland.
Just a day later She's Rocking was the first in his stable to show symptoms.
"The virus had travelled from Sydney to Brisbane, there was no doubt all horses were going to be infected in Brisbane," Heathcote said.

He received criticism for subsequently infecting the rest of his stable with the flu.

"I'm a realist, the sooner they got it, the quicker they would build a natural immunity, which is better than inoculation, and racing could get back to normal," he said.

QRL yesterday continued processing applications for horse movements in the red zone of southeast Queensland.

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