Winning the flu fight — so far so good

EARLY this morning, the Victoria Racing Club's risk manager Dev Basu will complete his final patrol of the rose-covered exclusion zone set up within Flemington Racecourse to protect the $260 million spring carnival extravaganza from an invisible foe.

He'll pace out the horse trails that wind under and around the track, from the float park to the stables and the new showpiece parade ring, down to the turf and the mounting yard, each step secured by tall brush fences, steel barricades and the tangled briars of those once purely aesthetic blooms.

At every gateway he'll check that guards are in place with the weaponry of germ warfare — footbaths and handwash. Come 8.50am it's lockdown, and traffic between the secured zone — with horses, handlers, riders and trainers — and the public playgrounds virtually stops. The objective is to keep the people away from the horses, for fear that so much as a slap on the withers could fell the $2 billion Victorian industry. This is racing in the time of equine influenza.

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