Horse flu eradication on target

Australia's main thoroughbred yearling sales will go ahead this year, but the industry is expecting a price correction.

The nation's chief vet is confident equine influenza will be completely eradicated within months, and export markets reopened.
Mark Webster, from thoroughbred auctioneers William Inglis and Sons, says the virus will affect the yearling sales, and prices could drop by 10 per cent.
"For the last few year, the last three or four years, the prices in Australia have been climbing," he says.
"Last year, there was a 20 per cent increase on the year before, so it is hard to sustain that sort of growth and there may be a minor correction but we're not expecting a fall of 30 or 40 per cent which is certainly what we were thinking back in October".