Dubai trip thrown into doubt
Hong Kong and Dubai veterinary authorities will today thrash out fresh quarantine protocols which have the potential to change the overseas plans for yesterday's Hong Kong Gold Cup hero Vengeance Of Rain.
The unidentified virus that hit nine horses from the John Moore stable two weeks ago, as well as infecting a number of Jockey Club lead ponies, will almost certainly see the quarantine conditions changed for Hong Kong horses intending to race at Dubai's World Cup meeting on March 31.
Keith Watkins, the Jockey Club's former head of veterinary regulation and international liaison, and now working in a consulting role, said that while the virus seemed to be under control as far as the domestic horse population was concerned, a higher standard of control might be desirable for horses heading overseas.
'Until now, the protocols between Hong Kong and Dubai were such that a horse did not have to do quarantine before shipping to Dubai,' Watkins said. 'But now the government vets will be required to sign a clearance stating these [Dubai-bound] horses have come from a totally disease-free stabling environment.
'With a number of horses having run temperatures in recent weeks, they may not feel comfortable to sign off on that unless we can show we have taken additional steps to quarantine them from the rest of the horse population.'
David Ferraris, the trainer of Vengeance Of Rain, said the uncertainty regarding the quarantine period had changed his position significantly as far as sending his champion to the US$5 million Dubai Sheema Classic (2,400m) was concerned.
'We have been very much looking forward to Dubai, but this will be a different ball game,' Ferraris said after Vengeance Of Rain bravely defeated Viva Pataca by a neck, with Bullish Luck a further neck behind.
'I had wanted to keep our horse in his normal routine of working and swimming from our stables. Now, it looks like the Jockey Club wants us to quarantine them in the international stables [adjacent to the 1,000m chute]. I'm not sure I want to do that. So it's all up in the air.'
The best-case scenario is the three Gold Cup principals will all move on to Dubai for World Cup night. Connections of Bullish Luck have already accepted an invitation to run in the US$6 million Dubai World Cup itself, while Viva Pataca is a possible starter in the Sheema Classic.
