All the way from Australia to Holland, Rozzie Ryan riding her lovely black horse in the Musical Kur. World Cup '08.

McGauran offered racing job

THE looming appointment of Peter McGauran as chief executive of Thoroughbred Breeders Australia was yesterday attacked as a "backhander deal" for the former federal agriculture minister allegedly favouring the racing and breeding industry during last year's equine influenza outbreak.

Queensland Performance and Pleasure Horse Association president Peter Toft said the appointment, expected to be announced today, was "grossly inappropriate" after the Howard government awarded greater assistance to the racing industry and vaccinated its horses before other performance and pleasure horses.

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia rejects it has shown Mr McGauran any favouritism.

Mr Toft, who runs a multi-million-dollar Arabian horse export business, said the 100,000 owners he represented during the outbreak were still trying to recover despite "being ignored" by Mr McGauran. "McGauran did a pathetic job as far as we are concerned," he said.

"The majority of our section of the industry would see this as a backhander deal. The racing and breeding parts of the industry had the restrictions on their movements relaxed a lot quicker than ours and they were vaccinated first."

The decision initially to direct the use of horse flu vaccinations to racehorses was criticised at the time and flew in the face of veterinarians wanting to innoculate horses on the edge of buffer zones around the infected areas in NSW and Queensland.

One senior government veterinarian yesterday told The Australian the Howard government had gone against advice to vaccinate "paddock" horses. "It would have been better to vaccinate horses near the infected zones, because the flu was being spread as horses in these paddocks came into contact across fences," the veterinarian said.

"The disease was more easily contained at the racetracks because they were locked down in their stables."

Mr McGauran yesterday confirmed he was likely to be appointed to Thoroughbred Breeders Australia and said the organisation was not a recipient of the $217 million assistance package he approved for the horse industry.

"My conscience is clear on this," Mr McGauran said. "I have an expertise in the area and the body I hope to join was not a recipient of any government funding."

Members of the association were beneficiaries of the assistance package.

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia chairman John Messara, one of Australia's most successful breeders, yesterday declined to confirm Mr McGauran as the incoming chief executive.

Mr Messara scoffed at the allegation that Mr McGauran's mooted appointed was a result of his alleged favouritism of the breeding side of the industry.

"He didn't help us, he helped the racing industry by keeping them in the job," he said.

"It is not a backhander deal, we went through a process of interviewing high-quality candidates and we think we have a very suitable person for the job.

"Nothing was done (during the outbreak) that was outside the guidelines set by the DPIs (departments of primary industries) and the federal government. It is ridiculous to suggest breeders and racing were favoured. We put some proposals forward that were approved, but most were rejected."

NZ horse flu investigation launched

Biosecurity New Zealand has launched an investigation into how tests on 10 horses were cross-contaminated, resulting in positive identification for equine influenza last week.

The horses were imported from the United States on March 23 after testing negative for the disease - but they tested positive five days after arrival in New Zealand, with the results becoming available at the end of March.

The south Waikato site where the horses were being quarantined was locked down as a precaution on Friday, with no horses allowed to leave or enter the site, and no visitors allowed.

All restrictions placed on the Karaka facility have been lifted and the horses will be cleared for release later on Monday, after a second round of testing confirmed the horses were free from equine influenza.

Animal imports team manager Rachelle Linwood said Biosecurity New Zealand had completed a second round of tests, and retested the original samples.

"We are now certain that the initial positive result was due to contamination in the laboratory.

"While we are very pleased that all samples have now tested negative, it's disappointing that cross-contamination occurred," Dr Linwood said.

MAF's import standards group manager, Clive Gower-Collins, said earlier that it took very little to skew the results on such a sensitive test - "we may have had contamination from somebody with a cold in the lab".

Linwood said an initial finding from the investigation to ascertain how the tests became contaminated was expected by the end of the week.

Findings would be used to identify ways to reduce the likelihood of cross-contamination occurring in the future.

The test results were crucial because an equine influenza outbreak would put at risk New Zealand's place as the only significant horse-racing nation free of equine flu.

Australia has just wrapped up an inquiry into its own billion-dollar outbreak last year when equine influenza first detected in August spread quickly among horses in NSW and Queensland.

Horse movements were stopped, and some Australian racing halted at a cost estimated at $A1 billion.

McGauran New CEO At Thoroughbred Breeders Aust

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia announced the appointment of former federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran as its new chief executive. TBA president John Messara said McGauran (who last Friday announced his resignation from Parliament after 25 years as National Party member for Gippsland) "can make a significant contribution to the administration & further growth of our industry" & noted the appointment "caps off a transition for the association (after its alignment with Aushorse Limited) into a powerful, united administrative & marketing arm of the Australian thoroughbred industry. The strength of the Australian racing & breeding industry is evidenced by the recent success of international stars like Choisir, Starcraft, Takeover Target, Elvstroem, Silent Witness & Miss Andretti. We now have the gene pool & the talents to produce some of the world's best racehorses. Targeting markets like Asia, Europe, South Africa, North America & Dubai, Mr McGauran's role will be to promote the Australian horse & recruit new investment into the Australian thoroughbred industry."

NZ Horses Given All-Clear After EI-Scare

MAF Biosecurity New Zealand announced "a 2nd round of testing has confirmed that 10 horses in the Karaka quarantine facility are free from equine influenza". MAFBNZ revealed on Friday that samples taken from horses imported directly from the US to the Karaka quarantine facility would be retested for equine influenza due to conflicting results: the horses had tested negative prior to export in the US but positive in NZ. MAFBNZ's Animals Imports Team manager Dr Rachelle Linwood confirmed: "We have completed a 2nd round of tests & retested the original samples & are now certain the initial positive result was due to contamination in the laboratory. While we are very pleased that all samples have now tested negative, it is disappointing that cross-contamination occurred." An investigation is underway "to ascertain how the tests became contaminated & initial findings are expected by the end of the week"; findings from that investigation "will be used to identify ways to reduce the likelihood of cross-contamination occurring in the future".

New CEO announced for TBA

SYDNEY - Thoroughbred Breeders Australia Limited (TBA) has announced the appointment of a new CEO to head the peak industry body.

TBA President Mr John Messara said he was delighted to announce that former Agriculture Minister Mr Peter McGauran would join the TBA as its Chief Executive.

"We do feel that Mr McGauran can make a significant contribution to the administration and further growth of our industry," said Messara.

Amongst his achievements as Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr McGauran;

• Delivered the greatest ever commitment to drought assistance for rural families, communities and businesses with $3.5billion assistance committed;
• Developed the National Agricultural and Climate Change Action Plan to help farmers better manage the impact of climate change;
• Secured the iconic Woolmark trademark in Australian hands and introduced ‘Australian Grown’ labelling to allow consumers to quickly identify products grown by Australian farmers;
• Developed and implemented the $234 million Equine Influenza Assistance Package for the racing industry following the outbreak of horse flu in Australia in August in 2007;
• Successfully led international delegations to improve Australian agricultural exporters’ access to markets;

The appointment caps off a transition for the association (after its alignment with Aushorse Limited) into a powerful, united administrative and marketing arm of the Australian Thoroughbred Industry.

"The strength of the Australian racing and breeding industry is evidenced by the recent success of international stars like Choisir, Starcraft, Takeover Target, Elvstroem, Silent Witness and Miss Andretti," Messara said.

"We now have the gene pool and the talents to produce some of the world’s best racehorses. Targeting markets like Asia, Europe, South Africa, North America and Dubai, Mr McGauran’s role will be to promote the Australian horse and recruit new investment into the Australian Thoroughbred Industry," added Messara.

"I am excited by the challenge. The TBA and Aushorse Ltd are now in a position to move forward strongly and it will be our task to lift the profile of racing and breeding in Australia," said Mr McGauran.

Mr McGauran will be based at the TBA’s new secretariat in Sydney.

Having tried his hand as an amateur jockey and racing steward before entering politics, Mr McGauran has a long history in the racing industry. He is an avid racing enthusiast and is regularly seen at race meetings and yearling sales in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. - Thoroughbred Breeders Australia