By Caryl Williamson and Mike Hedge
August 26, 2007 07:52pm
Article from: AAP

"THE equine influenza (EI) outbreak, which has shut down the multibillion-dollar Australian racing industry, has spread from NSW to Queensland but Victorian authorities are confident the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival will not be affected.

Although no racehorse has tested positive to EI, race meetings across the country were cancelled yesterday and a 72-hour order against the movement of horses was put in force, with that order is due to expire on Tuesday afternoon....

As the implications of the outbreak were assessed state by state, a difference of opinion has emerged between Victorian authorities and Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran.

Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) said it was confident horses will be back on the track in that state by the weekend, if not sooner.

But Mr McGauran said a miracle was needed if racing was to resume before next Saturday. "If we're racing next Saturday, then we should all breathe a sigh of relief," Mr McGauran said.

"If there's any racing in Australia before then, it will be a minor miracle."

Full article at http://www.news.com.au/story/0,2359...8-29277,00.html

I personally feel it could be a diabolical mistake if they try and rush back into this I know we all love this sport and we want the races back on but reallity is if this is rushed back then it is probably only going to be to the detriment on the sport down the track this spring, if they were to race next weekend and some of those horses were to end up infected at all then it could be months before anything happens, for the sake a a week or two instead of losing the spring carnival all together they should take there time in returning.