Growing frustration over ‘hypocrisy’ of Racing NSW’s ban on horse movement from Victoria
Suggestion of quarantine hub could be implemented to end controversial policy
A quarantine hub could be put in place to allow Victorian racehorses to cross the border into NSW which would bring to an end the ban which has been in place for more than six weeks, leaving some trainers crippled and stewards investigating a number of apparent protocol breaches.
Amid growing frustration at the Peter V’landys-instigated ruling on horses being unable to enter stables or licensed Racing NSW premises, which was brought into effect within a matter of hours on July 8 as a result of Victoria’s second wave of Covid-19 infections, it is trainers located near the Murray River who have been impacted most by the ban.
They include a vocal Mitch Beer, whose potential stable star Brander’s Rule (Brazen Beau) finished an eye-catching fourth in last week’s Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield for Peter Moody, rival Albury trainer Donna Scott as well as Corowa’s Geoff Duryea.
Their predicament of having horses located in Victoria at spelling and pre-training properties and unable to return them to NSW because of the ban has been well documented, but Racing NSW’s perceived lack of consultation and assistance has turned understood inconvenience into increasing anger.
NSW Trainers’ Association chief executive Richard Callander yesterday revealed that a possible solution had been floated with Racing NSW and he was hopeful it would be implemented in the near future.
“There’s (possibly) going to be a quarantine centre for a handover (of the horses from Victoria to NSW) and I think that might be the logical move,” Callander said.
“I feel it’s not far away, but for some, it’s already too late – we know that. I wish it was a decision that we could make, but unfortunately it’s a decision that Racing NSW has made with its biosecurity expert and the government.
“All we can do is lobby and state our case every day and just hope that in the near future that the borders open up and we can see horses move from … Melbourne to Sydney.”
Racing NSW general manager of regulatory services Keith Bulloch yesterday confirmed the quarantine hub suggestion but he reaffirmed V’landys’ and chief steward Marc Van Gestel’s public statements that a change in policy would not occur until coronavirus case numbers had significantly decreased in Victoria.
“The quarantine hub has been talked about, but it’s certainly hard to say when that will be in place, but we will welcome that when the data says it’s OK to do it,” Bulloch told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“I think that Peter has been very clear from the start that he relies on the information from the experts and the data numbers, so we think that is a definite possibility, it’s just a matter of (case) numbers continuing to drop.”
Duryea this week threatened to abandon a planned tilt at the $1.3 million Kosciuszko (1200m) with favourite Front Page (Magnus) and his older sister News Girl if the ban was not lifted “within the next three weeks”.
“Until NSW do something about this shemozzle we’re in down here, until someone does something about it, we’re in the lap of the gods,” Duryea told The Daily Advertiser.
“The problem is everyone’s putting their $5 in and buying tickets and all this, and we don’t know how we’re going to get there or what we’re going to do.”
Restricted to NSW country-trained horses, the Kosciuszko is scheduled to be run at Randwick on October 17, the same day as the $15 million Everest (1200m), with the race bankrolled largely by the selling of $5 raffle tickets to potential slot holders who then share in the ownership of a runner in the lucrative race.
Another affected by the horse movement ban, Kurt Goldman, was yesterday able to end speculation that he was one of the NSW trainers who had broken the rules with his leading Kosciuszko candidate Intuition (Street Cry).
Intuition, who was bought specifically to be aimed at the race, has been on the water walker at Rosemont Stud in Victoria since finishing fifth in the Sir John Monash Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield on July 11 and he remains stranded there while the ban remains in place.
Goulburn-based Goldman, who primarily trains for Alan Cardy from his private property, admitted he was running out of time to get his former Godolphin-owned gelding back to his stable to prepare for the race.
“I can’t have him in training with another licensed trainer in Melbourne (and) he’s not allowed to be in a licensed premises in NSW,” Goldman told Racing.com.
“If The Kosciuszko wasn’t there then he would have been left with Mick Price, it’s as simple as that. He would have run in the Bletchingly, would have run against Viridine on Saturday.
“We just decided to take the punt, hope the borders reopen, get the horse home and get him to the race. We will leave it at that and let the authorities work out when we can.”
One trainer spoken to by ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday hit out at Racing NSW’s implementation and handling of the extended ban, calling the “hypocrisy mind-boggling”.
“They go back to their biosecurity team and the report that they were given, which no one has seen. There’s 17,500 cases of Covid in Victoria and not one of them has been traced back to the movement of a thoroughbred,” they said.
“I am sure they have their stats and advice, but I find it incredibly frustrating when they have this policy and they have no policy on goods and services. I know of a number of goods and services that are being taken from Victoria and dropped off to warehouses and they are going to ACT clubs and bigger stables in Sydney.
“It’s absolutely hypocritical and political – whatever you want to call it.”
Bulloch defended Racing NSW’s tough stance and acknowledged that some trainers had suffered financial losses as a result.
His comments came only hours before it became apparent that Victorian trainer Richard Laming’s Cranbourne stables were in lockdown after a staff member tested positive to Covid-19.
“Absolutely I can (understand the frustration) but it’s difficult. No one expected this to happen and every decision that Racing NSW and Peter (V’landys) is making has been for the whole of the industry, trying to protect the industry, even if it does affect some individuals more than others,” he said.
“Even the trainers who are located further west, there’s been a number of meetings cancelled there, and they’ve tried to put some more on but they are certainly not getting the number of races run that they normally would.”
Callander said there had been some initial confusion about what the ban meant – breeding stock can still travel into NSW from Victoria and racehorses can be transported to unlicensed premises – and he distributed a reminder to trainers after reports emerged of some flouting the rule.
“I am just concerned about NSW trainers and them getting their horses, particularly the trainers on the border who have horses spelling on the other side and need them to come back to be trained for specific races in NSW like the Kosciuskzo and the Country Championships as well as the Highway races,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and that the light will be turned on in the very near future, I am tipping.”