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Horse flu ruins HK hopes

Australia

The horse flu that has brought racing in Australia to a standstill is also threatening the country's Olympic hopes. With horses in quarantine and events cancelled, riders will be hard pressed to qualify for the equestrian events in Hong Kong.

Many of the top event horses are trapped at Warwick Farm in Sydney where last weekend's FEI World Cup qualifier was cancelled, along with the Sydney's spring racing carnival.

Shane Rose, who won the bronze medal at the equestrian test event at Sha Tin last month, has eight of his horses there. Among them his Olympic hopeful All Luck, who he was preparing for a four-star qualifier at Adelaide in November.

'I'd planned on doing Adelaide which is pretty much out of the question, so he's still unqualified. We'll have to find an event early next year hopefully,' said Rose, who is also dealing with his horse, Statford Novalis, being stranded in Hong Kong.

Statford Novalis and fourth-placed Kirby Park Fedwell had to complete two weeks in quarantine before they could be allowed back into Australia and it was during that time the flu hit Down Under. 'It's costing us a bootload,' says Rose.

The Equestrian Federation of Australia chief executive Franz Venhaus said most of the 250 horses trapped at Warwick Farm were expected to become infected and will return to work after recovering and completing the required quarantine. The good news is many of Australia's riders and horses are in Europe and will not be affected by the outbreak.

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