KEY POINTS:
Ruakaka trainer Donna Logan ran through some worst-case scenarios of Australia's flu outbreak yesterday that gave her the shivers.
As she anxiously awaits a progress call today from stranded training partner Chris Gibbs in Cranbourne with stable star Aftershock, Logan shuddered to think of the ramifications for New Zealand.
"The implications are enormous for New Zealand trainers," said Logan.
"We could now be facing a quarantine to go to Australia and on the way back, and a vaccination.
"Those raid trips when you decide to go a week before would not befeasible anymore."
Logan has already canned any hope of packing Saturday's Ellerslie winner El Perez off to join Aftershock inVictoria.
With the immediate future of racing in Australia up in the air, Logan can now only pray for a wet start to the New Zealand spring for the 7-year-old.
Logan is adamant the late-blooming brother to former star El Duce deserves some black type against his name.
The winner of seven races from just 20 starts has had some wretched luck during a stop-start career which had its most recent setback with a suspensory ligament strain last spring.
El Perez was good enough to score in an open handicap at Flemington before the setback.
After two tune-ups in this new campaign, Logan was confident of a successful return in the open 1600m on Saturday for rider Chris Johnson, providing the horse handled the sticky track.
"Being an early race we got away with it, but two strides off the post I thought Chris may have left his run too late," said Logan, who left saddling duties to her second training partner Dean Logan.
Meanwhile, Aftershock's immediate Victoria programme remains at the mercy of Australian officials.
Logan said Gibbs and the horse are "locked in" at Colin Alderson's Cranbourne stables, unable to go near a training track.
She has some rich staying assignments in mind for the exciting Avondale Cup runner-up, including the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.
But until the flu-scare is resolved even the horse's short-term programme is up in the air.
