Quarantine spots short for Melbourne hopefuls

Such is the increased international interest in the cash-fuelled Melbourne spring carnival, some of the European horses headed down under are likely to be denied the chance to participate.

On the back of the announcement yesterday that emerging German stayer Schabau has been purchased to race in Australia this spring for Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Robert Hickmott, Racing Victoria has confirmed that there could be a shortage of spots at the industry’s quarantine centre for horses on a one-way trip to Australia.

RV general manager of international operations, Paul Bloodworth, said Schabau carries the lowest rating of all horses on next month’s first shipment that were purchased from Europe to race in Australia and therefore is the most vulnerable to be relocated to the government quarantine facility at Mickleham.

“The [Hickmott] stable rang me last week about it and I advised them because of its rating, which is very low, he is highly unlikely to get a spot at Werribee,” Bloodworth told Racing.com.

“I’ve committed to give them a call back this week to give them the latest update but it probably means that they will come through the government facility at Mickleham and that means it will cut the spring out as they will not have any training facilities for a month. On the first shipment, we’ll have a barn available for one-way tickets if you like — so horses that have been bought overseas and are going to local trainers after they finish their quarantine period but we are over-subscribed at the moment and he’s [Schabau] basically the lowestrated horse. We’ve got eight spots [for one-way tickets] and if we have any more than eight horses, we base it on their international rating.”

Bloodworth said that horses that are relocated to government facilities automatically miss the spring.

“At Newmarket [quarantine in England], horses have access to training each day and when they arrive [at Werribee] they have access to training so they don’t go out of training at all. But if you go to a government facility you have to do your quarantine at a facility in England that doesn’t have training facilities and the same is the case out here.

“We have the opportunity at any one time to have 32 horses in quarantine but the long and the short of it is there is only eight boxes for the one-way ticket horses.”