KEY POINTS:
Roger James, John Sargent and Graeme Rogerson are among the latest high profile New Zealand trainers to join the urgent call for New Zealand's entire horse population to be vaccinated against the devastation of EI.
The trio is desperate not to see in New Zealand the time wasting
factor that appears to have hampered the containment of the flu virus in Australia.
This weekend Bruce Graham, chairman of the NZ Equine Health Association and Matamata veterinarian John O'Flaherty, will spend time in Melbourne with CEO of Racing Victoria Stephen Allinson to monitor what is being done to prevent the virus reaching Victoria.
O'Flaherty, in a television programme on Sunday, indicated he was against the vaccination of New Zealand horses.
Graham and O'Flaherty will report to a crisis meeting at New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing in Wellington on Tuesday to which a number of interested parties have been invited.
Roger James, like others, believe there remains a misplaced air of complacency in New Zealand over EI.
"Someone at the track at Cambridge the other morning said: 'Oh well, we might all be going and doing something else'.
"It might have been said lightly, but I can't believe there are some people not treating this as a dire emergency."
James said he has seen first hand the human devastation in Australia caused by EI.
"I'm close friends with many of the high profile executives of the major Australian studs. They're normally very upbeat and they're walking around in a stunned state.
"Every major racing country has had EI and now vaccinate against it - we must be able to learn something from that."
Vaccination was due to begin tonight of all horses at Sydney's Rosehill track, the only major location in the city to remain free of EI.
Rosehill trainer Tim Martin, who won the Derby at Ellerslie in March with Redoute's Dancer, is critical of how long it has taken to vaccinate.
"I'm mesmerised, I can't believe how stupid they are.
"Give me one good reason why these horses haven't [already] been vaccinated."
Martin said his brother Craig, a trainer at Tamworth, is almost certain to walk away from racing because of the hardships caused by EI.
In NSW the decision has yet to be made over which body will eventually foot the bill for the vaccination, but it will not be the participants, owners or trainers.
"We're not sure yet where the invoice will end up," says Racing New South Wales's Brian Judd.
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing is daily receiving calls from concerned people who have re-entered New Zealand from Australia and have not been questioned about whether they could be potential carriers of the EI virus.
"It appears MAF is taking time to grasp the seriousness of the problem," says NZTR executive Simon Cooper.
"There appears to be no doubt that people are the main dangers when it comes to the possibility of the virus reaching New Zealand.
"Evidence suggests the virus can remain in clothes for 72 hours and there is further evidence it can live in human nasal passages.
"But from what we're seeing there is not a great deal of vigilance at our borders. There seems to be a feeling in MAF that racing is this small, marginalised group instead of understanding it's a billion-dollar industry.
"MAF seem to be good with issues around bees and cattle, but not so good with horses. Hopefully, that is starting to change."
NZTR has issued a directive that jockeys or stable staff arriving from Australia have a mandatory stand-down period of 72 hours before they can approach horses or horse properties.
EI outbreaks at Sydney's Warwick Farm last Friday night and at Brisbane's main tracks Eagle Farm and Doomben on Monday has deepened concern that virus-free Victoria will be the next to fall.
Because of its gentlemens' agreement with the profits from Tabcorp, Melbourne racing is already propping up NSW and Queensland while most of the racing has closed down in those states.
If the Melbourne spring carnival, including the A$3 million Cox Plate and A$5 million Melbourne Cup, was cancelled the financial meltdown would take years, if not a decade, to recover from.
The Sydney spring carnival is cancelled and already the planned rich autumn carnival, including the Golden Slipper, AJC Derby and BMW, is being pushed back by a month. The A$1 million Gold Coast Magic Million sale has been moved from January to June.
Sydney Turf Club CEO Michael Kenny said the total cost would be massive.
"We haven't raced here at Rosehill since August 18 and we turn over A$8 to A$10 million each raceday.
"There is no income coming in and no prizemoney going out - that's the train that isn't coming in."
Brian Judd told the Herald that even country racing, the bottom of the tree in Australia, is suffering heavily.
"If there is a total lockdown, and we're close to it, country racing in NSW will lose A$2 million a month," he said.
Sydney's chief stipendiary steward Ray Murrihy says watching 700 sick horses at Randwick is one of his life's most distressing sights.
On Tuesday he sent a communiqué to trainers warning not to put affected horses back into training too soon for fear of them developing heart problems.
