The Serve

Qld racing gone until Feb

While New South Wales racing manfully stages attempts to kick start industry, Queensland has painted a very grim picture on the state of racing in the northern state, with any hope of racing in south-east Queensland before the end of the year dashed.

It was discovered this week that several horses in Brisbane had tested positive to equine influenza, resulting in an immediate shut down.

“It would appear that given the circumstances we have the spread of EI into the metropolitan area, that it is very unlikely that we would be facing the prospect of having racing on before the first of February next year,” said state racing minister Andrew Fraser.

“Clearly that is a best case scenario. But there are no guarantees.

“We have two major issues. One is how with we deal with the prevalence of the virus in the horse population in the metropolitan area.

“The second and bigger challenge is how we charter a path for the welfare of the industry, beyond the first part of next year.”

Queensland premier Anna Bligh has ruled out financial assistance from the state, claiming that it’s a federal issue.

“This undoubtedly is Queensland racing’s darkest hour,” Fraser said.