Racing finally shakes off equine influenza crisis

AUSTRALIA'S equine influenza crisis is over and a day at the races will return to normal, starting at Echuca today.

While the cost of EI has run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, and is rising, the disease itself has been beaten.
The Department of Primary Industry and Racing Victoria Limited will announce on Thursday morning that the virus has almost certainly burned out.
The DPI and RVL met yesterday and will meet again tomorrow with key industry players. DPI chief veterinary surgeon Dr Hugh Millar reported yesterday there had been no EI outbreaks since well before Christmas.
Dr Millar said final tests in purple zones, where EI ran rampant, would be finalised soon and movement bans would be abolished by mid-March.
He said quarantine regulations of three days each side of the journey between previously infected areas of New South Wales and Victoria would be reduced to one day within weeks.
Interstate trainers who had baulked at sending horses to Melbourne's upcoming summer racing festival now have little reason to stay away.
Key carnival contenders Takeover Target and De Lightning Ridge, the Canberra-trained Blue Diamond Stakes favourite, are now probable runners.
Trainer Joe Janiak, keen to tackle the big summer sprints, had been waiting for weeks to hear news about a relaxation of travel restrictions.
RVL chief executive Stephen Allanson said racing in Victoria would now be "virtually back to normal".
"Of course there is still the huge cost of EI to deal with, but all the barricades which have driven everybody mad will come down and I think we're very close to declaring ourselves officially over this disease. I'm expecting that announcement within days," Allanson said.
He said EI had cost the racing industry $15 million through lost turnover and hundreds of millions in other areas, such as the breeding industry.
Equine influenza invaded Australia for the first time in August last year, believed to have been carried into the Eastern Creek quarantine centre in Sydney by an imported stallion.
It spread like wildfire through most of NSW and southern Queensland.
Dr Millar said he was confident there would be no new cases.
"We're going to be very vigilant with on-going testing but it is looking very, very good," Dr Millar said.
EI horse and human movement restrictions caused huge headaches through the spring carnival.
Owners and trainers were separated at the races, owners were banned from trackwork and jockeys and strappers endured extreme bio-security hygiene protocols.