Various Items

EI UPDATE

Firstly what terrific news that both the inflated temperatures in Tasmania and at Brett Cavanagh's stable in Albury tested negative to EI. This means containment is working to a point.

However, let's get a few things into perspective. The EI virus may be spread in various ways, through horses coming into contact with each other, by human's carrying it on their person or clothing, via horse transport vehicles or even through the atmosphere over short distances say no further than 5km. It must be said that the EI virus cannot jump Bass Straight, after of course hurdling the entire state of Victoria, to miraculously infect horses in the Apple Isle. The Ei virus also cannot fly through the air for over 300km to arrive at a thoroughbred horse stable in Albury, when the closest known outbreak of the disease was in Nowra. We understand every precaution must be taken, and all these horses with raised temperatures must be tested just to make sure, however EI infiltrating Tasmania is farcical to say the least. Not to mention the incubatiuon period is 5 days, so if your horse is EI free for 5 days, and has not come into contact with anything or anyone who is carryong the virus, then that horse cannot catch the virus. We wish this type of hysteria would follow on to precautions that should be being taken each and every minute of every day by anyone in contact with equines. So please feelf ree to be hysterical in taking every precaution to stop the spread of the virus.

We urge everyone who has contact with horses, especially thoroughbreds to take all precautions to stop the spread of the virus. We control our own destiny to a point in all of this. The virus will only spread with human assistance, and this includes keeping all horses away from others that may either carry or spread the virus. We can stop the spread, do you best to assist.

PUNTING

Been a very lean trot for us here at PASS in the past few weeks. We are on a six straight losing streak and our selections have not even been getting close lately. However this is all part and parcel of the punting caper and we have to be patient. After starting August sensationally, the middle part was woeful and we will be working hard to improve.

Form lines since the outbreak of EI may take a while to really settle down. Plenty of horses have missed work, some missing a full week and it will take some time for those horses to catch up. What we saw at Caulfield on Saturday was the majority of winners came from trainers who have their own private training tracks where their horses had not missed vital work. David Hayes with Miss Finland, Lee Freedman with Royal Ascher, even the $70 chance Shadow is trained privately and had not missed a days work. Be very careful in weeks to come, that horses like El Segundo and Haradasun don't improve dramatically on their performances on Saturday and turn the tables on the likes of Miss Finland. Please, we are not knocking Miss Finland, only saying she may have had a distinct advantage on Saturday in the Memsie Stakes.

Punters must also be careful once racing resumes in both Queensland and NSW. The meeting today at the Gold Coast is a typical example, with huge fields, evenly matched fields with punters having little or no idea which horses have coped with stable life and lack of work over the past 2 weeks. Put that together with plenty of horses drawing badly due to big fields, a bit of rain around, and it could be a disaster for the punter. The Sunshine Coast will be similar tomorrow although the fields are certainly not as large although the track will be rain affected.

So punters must bet with extreme caution over the next few weeks until form lines settle down and horses regain full fitness.

If you would like to receive our emails and text messages with our selections, please contact us here at PASS on profselections@austarnet.com.au and we will make them available to you.

Good luck and profitable punting to all and please, if you are in regualr contact with equines, then please take very advisable precaution to stop the spread of EI.

EI Update

With over half the equine population of Royal Randwick infected with EI, over 300 individual properties in NSW affected and reports this morning a thoroughbred mare and foal in the upper Hunter Valley have been diagnosed with EI, it still appears some people are nor aware how dangerous this virus is.

Horse movement in NSW and Qld is banned and will be until no new cases have been diagnosed for a 5 day period. EI is spreading so rapidly it is only a matter of time before either you or someone you know are affected by EI. It is amazing how some people think that it won't happen to them so they don't need to take precautions.

We receive some excellent emails from authorities on this issue and although we generally prefer not to cut and paste articles, because this issue is so severe, we will today. THese make extremely interesting reading for everyone in the industry.

Firstly from BioSecurity in Queensland:-



Prevent the spread
There are things you can do right now to help prevent spread to your property. Check the DPI&F website for more tips, but the most important things are:
Abide by the standstill. Remember, it is illegal to move any horses from your property until notified;
Keep you horses at least 50 metres away from other horses;
Don't handle other people's horses;
Don't share equipment.
More tips for protecting your property
Using your horse float/truck
Vehicles used for transporting horses such as horse floats and trucks are not under the standstill order. However, the following applies:
If your vehicle (float/truck) has been used for moving horses, it will need to be cleaned and disinfected before using again.
If your vehicle (float/truck) is on a quarantined property, you can not move it unless it has been cleaned and disinfected under supervision by Biosecurity Queensland.
If your vehicle (float/truck) has never been used to transport horses (I.e. it's brand new) there is no requirement to clean and disinfect it prior to use.
How to disinfect your vehicle:
Clean thoroughly to remove all dirt, faecal matter and organic material.
Disinfect cleaned surfaces with soap or detergent or disinfectant (not a mixture).
More about decontamination
Standstill remains
The standstill relates to ALL horses and applies to ALL recreational and commercial horse owners. It is still in place in Queensland.
Even if you have a number of properties listed under the one PIC, horses can't move from the boundaries of the property they are on, and must not cross any road.
Check you know everything about the standstill
Manure and other horse products
Under the standstill horse manure and waste bedding cannot be moved off a property but you can use it on your own property for gardening providing it is not going to come in contact with horses.
It must not be moved on or off properties under the Standstill order. Therefore it cannot be sold on the side of the road. Any bags on the side of the road should be removed from sale and moved back into the property they are on.
Commercial exemptions exist. Check the DPI&F website.
The disposal of manure on quarantined properties will be managed under supervision of Biosecurity Queensland Officers.
The virus can be spread by moving animal matter including semen and other horse products. The standstill also relates to horse products.
More about manure and other horse products
Horse services
Horse services such as dentistry, farriery, chiropractic and non-essential vetinary services should only be conducted in emergency situations. This will help minimise the spread of Equine Influenza.
Water restrictions and Equine Influenza
Queenslanders are reminded restrictions do not apply to reasonable actions taken to prevent material risks associated with a hazard to health such as Equine Influenza.
Horses from NSW
Anyone with information about horses bought to Queensland from NSW since 08 August needs to contact DPI&F on 13 25 23.
This is particularly important if horses left NSW between 14 August and 26 August.
Biosecurity Queensland has already undertaken an extensive tracing program but is now double checking to see if any animals have been missed.
Thank-you for reporting suspicious symptoms
Biosecurity Queensland is busy undertaking trace backs and following up reports of horses with suspicious symptoms.
Thank-you to everyone for your vigilance in reporting these suspected cases. Remember, Equine Influenza is a Notifiable Disease in Queensland.
Share this important information



Secondly from the Horse Industry Council:-


Equine Influenza – where to from here?
It is 10 days since we knew that flu was in the general population, how are we doing?
We have 300 properties in NSW expected to get EI in the near future - not bad considering there were 250 horses at the first event where EI was spread and before the lockdown occurred. Most of these cases are in areas where there is a high density of horses and properties are small. We are expecting and identifying spread from property to property over fences and by airborne movement because the disease is highly infectious. It may be that all horses become infected in high density areas. This will impose a huge workload on the NSW Control Centres - they are under pressure but responding well.
The disease will burn itself out if movements are controlled. The disease came in at the worst possible time. Spread is best under winter conditions. There will be less property to property spread in summer due to temperature and UV effects.
There are calls to let the disease run. All horse owners need to resist this and to support the State DPI’s to continue the control effort. We are not in a similar position to overseas countries.
We have no pool of vaccinated horses - all ours are naive and highly susceptible. If we let it go now we will have deaths of 10 - 40% of young foals - there are thousands out there at this time. It will not be just the TB's - all will get it. There will not be 300 infected properties, there will be more like 30,000.
NSW and Queensland are suffering now. If flu gets away and there is no stand still, it will be in Melbourne this week and we can kiss the spring carnival and Melbourne Cup goodbye. All horse events will be cancelled nationally. If the positions were reversed, would NSW horse people want the Victorians to do that to us?
Some people are saying vaccinate. With what? It will be weeks before we can get supplies of the right vaccine. Vaccination is far from 100% - otherwise EI would not have got here in the first place. If we vaccinate we will still be subject to a standstill until all horses are vaccinated and become immune. Do you think governments are going to pay for the vaccination of all horses every 6 months? Who is going to pay for that?
Those that have been overseas know that living with flu means issuing horses with passports at a cost of at least $200 each and then vaccinating every 6 months. The vaccine costs about $30 plus vet costs. Then at every event you have to show paperwork proving current vaccination status. People running events will have to find extra people to check the paperwork. Vaccination might not prove a huge disadvantage to wealthy TB breeders or owners but it will have a huge effect on the battlers. It will change horse ownership as we know it in Australia.
Authorities are amazed at the level of support shown by horse owners. This needs to continue at 100%. A small vocal group complaining about something could quickly evaporate the support shown by the state governments. The Feds are ducking for cover. The truth will come out but probably after the election. Keep the faith.
If you are not a member, please join the AHIC. Membership has not been a prerequisite for registering on the Horse Emergency Contact Database but we need more support to cover our costs. Emails are free but running the website costs real dollars. If we send out an emergency SMS to 5000 people it will cost $1250 of our limited funds. We will need over 60 new individual members just to pay for that.
Many thanks.



Please, this is critical information everyone with horses should understand and follow. Pass it onto everyone you know with horses. The sooner we stop the spread, the sooner we cna go back to life as we used to know it.

EQUINE INFLUENZA

The current situation in Australia in regards to EI is the most catastrophic occurrence ever to inflict our shores. The impact on the thoroughbred racing industry is an absolute disaster, despite the fact no equine thoroughbreds have been infected by the virus. Costs arising from will be far reaching and cover years, not just days, weeks and months.

Firstly let me say, that the Government must conduct a full enquiry as to how the virus arrived in Australia, and how it was spread. And they must then put into place procedures to ensure this never happens again.

Forgetting betting turnover, think about how many people and their incomes this is affecting. There has been no horse racing since last Friday, with NSW & Queensland racing suspended indefinately, no track work until this morning, no movement of any horses anywhere in Australia since Saturday. So let's list a few of the people affected whose incomes have been diminished.

Racehorse trainers & jockeys
Trackwork riders, stablehands & strappers
Equine Transport Companies
Farriers, Dentists and Veterinarians
Breeding Studs Farms, Horse Breakers & Agistment Properties
TAB Agencies
Bookmakers
Profesional Punters
Catering Companies that operate on race courses
Casual Staff that work at race courses on race days
Bloodstock Agents

All these people and their employees are badly affected, but there are further ramifications along the line. Owners are paying ut money for their horses to be in stables even though very few can be worked or raced. Due to the lack of racing advertising revenue for race clubs and sponsorship will not be received. Any advertising clubs to in the media has stopped causing reduced incomes for newspapers, television and radio, especially hard hit in regional areas. Flow on affects from all these issues result in reduced expenditure by race clubs on things such as extensions, track upgrades etc.

In fact, leaving TAB turnover alone for the moment, I doubt if the real cost or affect will ever be known as the flow on from reduction of income this week and in the upcoming weeks could never be accurately measured.

Personally, our income has all but ceased. We currently have 3 horses "Sold", however as they cannot be moved (all are in NSW or Qld) the sales will not go ahead at this stage. And very few if any person wants to purchase a horse unless they are fully guaranteed the horse does not have EI. So no bloodstock sales are happening at present.

Massie Lodge is locked down at present, a personal decision made by Helen and myself merely as a precaution. We have several clients wanting to send horses here for a spell, however with no transport allowed to move horses, we are unable to receive the clients horses. We have plenty of room here to accept new residents, however we cannot accept any.

And finally punting as we know it has ceased indefinately. Not only is there no thoroughbreds races to bet on, when racing finally does recommence, extreme caution will be required before any consideration is given to outlaying money on thoroughbreds. So many horses have missed vital work, not raced for longer periods than normal we will not risk betting on horses we are not confident are fit enough to win.

And finally we must give Go Maz a mention. The poor bloke is jumping out of his skin and ready to race. His career has been agonizingly halted for yet another reason. One would think cheating death on 3 occasions, dodging the dogger, then when he is finally ready to go, he firstly encounters an abandoned meeting due to rain, now and EI epidemic never heard of before in Australia. What will happen to the poor little fella next? He will be nominated for a 1200m maiden at grafton on 5 Septmeber, so let's hope racing in NSW resumes in time for him to take his palce in the field.

We urge everyone to adhere to all rules and regualtions instigated by State Governments and the DPI. Please do not move any horse of any breed anywhere until clearance is given by the DPI. Take extreme precautions to protect yourself and your horses if you handle equines on a regular basis. Do not allow this virus to spread any further.

This is the biggest catastrophe to ever occur in our industry, please take every possible measure to contain it now.

Maz Update

Unfortunately, Lismore races were abandoned on Monday, so we have to sit and wait patiently for another chance for Maz to get to the races. This opportunity should arive on Tuesday at Grafton, as long as the rain eases off in the area. Maz has been accepted for a 1200m Maiden at Grafton, so we will head down there to cheer him home. He has drawn poorly in barrier 15, however the run will be over of great benefit and experience for him.

Go Maz !!!

GO MAZ

Go Maz is due to have his first race start today at Lismore. Go Maz !!






GO MAZ – The Community’s Racehorse

Although yet to race the story surrounding Go Maz is already quite remarkable. He cheated death at least 3 times, dodged the knackery at the last minute and now due to the community support of an internet forum finds himself heading to the race track.

Go Maz is the son of a most uncommercial Gatsby x Belle Hareb mating, originally owned and managed by a passionate internet forum member, let's call him, “Fasteddy”. “Maz” as he has affectionately been known to his internet family and friends for the last 6 years (since inception) lost his mum just weeks following his birth. He struggled through the next 6 months on life’s edge, with life turning for the up when moved to boutique property Massie Lodge near Warwick in South East Qld. Dedication, love and care from Fasteddy and the property owners Helen and Evan Robinson saw Maz slowly put on weight and grow, and at 18 months he had matured into a healthy young colt about to embark on a potential racing career. Maz moved on to the breakers and a property north of Brisbane in preparation for racetrack dreams.

However tragedy again struck when on a stormy summers night with thunder and lightening threatening he took fright and unwittingly charged into a paddock boundary fence. His injuries were so severe he was forced to spend 4 weeks in an equine veterinary hospital to assist with his recovery, tended constantly by “Fasteddy’s” devotion. Maz then suffered an almost fatal dose of the scours, with serious consideration at one stage given to him being put down, however Fasteddy would have none of this. With Fasteddy's care and his own will and determination, amazingly the brown colt survived, finally returning to his paddock.

By this stage the heavy burden of vet, equine hospital and mounting agistment costs were taking their toll on Fasteddy who reluctantly was forced by debtors to list Maz in a monthly tried horse sale on the Gold Coast. After flirting with death on no less than three previous occasion once again Maz’s future looked very bleak, little alone any prospect of the racetrack.
Word spread as Eddy sadly advised his internet forum friends of the latest developments. “Maz” had long been a favourite friend and mascot to The New Horse Racing Community Forum (http://groups.msn.com/TheNewHorseRacingCommunityForum) as they had followed his path from mating onwards. Some had supported his syndicate from day one, while others had maintained regular interest and encouragement through his years of development. Helen and Evan Robinson, members of the forum and fond past carers of Maz decided to step in and purchase Maz at the sale, if for nothing else than to save him and allow him a happy life once again in a quite paddock at Massie Lodge. Community interest and support quickly grew amongst the internet forum members who now wanted to support the 4yr old and any possible chance of he at last venturing to the race track. And so the Maz Syndicate was formed, with many members far and wide (all parts of Australia, Japan and Asia) now banding together behind the community mascot generously donating funds to support an initial racing campaign.
At last “Maz” looked likely of kicking up his heels on a racetrack. Win, lose or draw it didn’t matter, all that everyone wanted now was for Maz to be given the opportunity to make it to the races. He was sent to trainer Phil Quinnell at Ballina on the NSW Nth Coast to assess and commence work. In lieu of his public support and following Maz he and his syndicate was formally registered and the brown gelding named – “Go Maz”.

And now his first race day draws near. To the surprise of trainer and supporters (but not to “Fasteddy”) Go Maz stepped out to win his maiden trail recently at Lismore. After all the years of hardship Go Maz “the community horse” is now set to achieve his goal to race against his peers for the very first time. Results now are not important, the fact that Maz has achieved so much and brought together so many against all odds in the “sport of kings” is the real story.
GO MAZ!!!!



The New Horse Racing Community Forum

http://groups.msn.com/TheNewHorseRacingCommunityForum

The New Horse Racing Community Forum is a MSN forum that grew from the original Racenet forum. TNHRCF is independent, driven by its members expression, discussion and content which is why today it is one of the most active MSN forums with over 400 hits each day and hundres of members contributing each month. Punters, trainers, owners, jockeys, breeders, journalists are all active participants, even the stewards admit to having a look.
Of note, TNHRCF has driven the public voice behind many key industry issues across the last 6 years, including leading the Betfair debate, uncovered the "Dubaigate" Tab post race betting scandal and contributed to the naming of many macots for members including the classy mare "Forum Floozie".

A Trap For Young Players

What a magnificent start to the new punting season for all our followers here at PASS.

Our first three selections of the season have all saluted, Queen And Country ($7.00) Father Dex ($1.90) and Kid's Show ($3.70) healthily lining all our pockets with plenty of cash. On Saturday, our members were also privileged with mail that Apache Cat was absolutely flying giving him a great chance to upset boom horse Haradasun in the Bletchingly Stakes. The cat won comfortably assisting one member to snag the Melbourne quaddie. Lots more winners coming , especially with the tracks becoming drier along with the better horses reurning for the Spring.

Now, there is a significant anomoly in form that occurs this time every year that most punters either do not know about or choose to ignore it. Most horses when they race as 2yos, restrict their racing to their own age group with most clubs scheduling at least one 2yo race per week. However, as from August 1, these horses are now 3yo, meaning fewer opportunities for races restricted to their own age group. What we find happening at this time of the year is simple. A 2yo wins a race restricted to his own age in late July, however after 1 August he is now considered a 3yo therefore having race against older, more mature and seasoned opponents. Most of these recently turned 3yos, are not really 3yo at all, those being born in October, November or Decenber, are not really 3yo until their original foaling dates arrives on the calendar.

These newly turned 3yos are at a huge disadvantage against 4, 5 and 6yos maturity and size wise thus will always have difficulty beating them in a race. There are always a few exceptions to every rule, and if Sunline reincarnated is running around as a newly turned 3yo filly, then she would defeat anything she runs against. However, there are not too many reincarnated Sunlines or Lonhro's around at this time.

So please be very careful when assessing form. recently turned 3yos are at a distinct disadvantage when racing against open age, more seasoned gallopers. If a horse won a 2yo restricted race late in July, then turns up against open aged horses at their next assignment, odds are they will come up very short in the market, meaning they are way under the odds.

There has been two clear examples of this happening in the past 5 days. A 3yo filly named Le Jeune Fille started a $2.50 favourite in an open fillies and mares Class 1 at Hawkesbury on Thursday. She was beaten into second place by our winning PASS selection, Queen And Country. Then, at Gunnedah on Friday in the last race, a restricted 2yo winner from July, was again sent out a short priced favourite when racing against the older horses for the first time, missing a place.

These form lines will continue for at least three months, possibly until the new year, so please be particularly adroit to avoid these runners. In fact, they are generally good risks as very few will beat the older horses.

If you would like to join the winning team here at PASS, then please send us an email profeselections@austarnet.com.au so we can inform you how to obtain our services.

Good luck and profitable punting to all.

Results For The Racing Season

July 31 brought about the end to yet another racing season along with the commecement of the new racing year.

We have had a most successful racing season showing profits of almost 20% on turnover across the board using a level stake. In total we have provided 73 winners from 162 selections at an average winning price of just over $2.65. After a full racing season, it is hard to imagine any other service providing consistent winners as we do every week here at PASS.

There have been several highlights, however our recent successes are one that should be noted. From our last 24 selections we have served up no less than 14 winners at an average winning price of over $2.62, so all our members finished off the racing year with full wallets.

Our most consistent winner this year was probably the Western Australian Beat The Storm, who we followed with great success culminating in a Group 3 victory at Belmont paying the juicy odds of $4.60 top tote. He won 4 times for us with the next closest being Not A Copy the handy Victorian provincial horse who saluted on three separate occasions earlier in the year. Our highest winning dividend went to Incentate who won the Hanging Rock Cup on Australia Day paying over $7 across the country.

So a most successful year was had by all members, and we can sincerely promise we will do far better in 2007-2008.

If you would like to become a part of all the winners, please contact us here at profselections@austarnet.com.au so we cna assist you in profiting from the punt.

Good luck and profitable punting to all.