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Allan outraged at confiscation of Indigenous' feed

Indigenous' Japan Cup mission was on the verge of being called off yesterday after trainer Ivan Allan hit out at the 'disgraceful' treatment of the veteran's feeding requirements and called for the Japanese government to 'investigate this fiasco'.

Allan said he had advised Indigenous' owner, Louis Pang Yuen-hing, to withdraw the horse from the Group One race on Sunday week after Japan's Department of Agriculture confiscated the routine feed that accompanied Indigenous on his trip to Tokyo on Tuesday. The trainer said the department's decision had been made despite compliance with Japan's requirement to send feed samples for testing ahead of the trip.

'I am disgusted that Japan's Department of Agriculture has confiscated the feed without warning,' Allan said. 'It is disgraceful that the Japanese authorities did not alert us of their intention to disallow the feed to be imported into Japan prior to the shipment of Indigenous. In previous years, Japan was highly regarded as a country with the best management and systems.

'However, some officials in the Department of Agriculture have missed out and, hopefully, the Minister of Agriculture will investigate this fiasco.'

Indigenous, Hong Kong's most-travelled and highest-earning horse, finished second in the Japan Cup in 1999 and returned last year to take seventh place. But Allan said the horse would be unable to perform to his best in the 2,220-metre race without his normal feeding routine.

'Indigenous has always been selective about his feed and this disruption of his diet will seriously affect his chances. He is almost a 10-year-old and surely does not deserve to compete on a change of diet 10 days before the race,' Allan said. 'More important, a run in the Japan Cup with his metabolism diminished due to a change of feed will seriously affect his recovery period and disrupt his chances in the Hong Kong International Vase three weeks later.

'If I had been informed earlier, I would have withdrawn Indigenous from his invitation to compete in the Japan Cup. On Saturday, Hong Kong has the International Cup Trial and he could have competed in that race, which is worth $2.3 million.'

Allan was embroiled in a similar row with the Japanese authorities 18 months ago when his star miler Fairy King Prawn was initially refused entry to compete in the Yasuda Kinen because of Japanese concerns over foot-and-mouth disease. Fairy King Prawn was eventually allowed to run after a fortnight of wrangling, but Allan said time was running short in the latest case with the Japan Cup only nine days away.

'Apparently, the Japan Racing Association [JRA] is attempting to import the same feed direct from the US, but this will be all too late,' he said. 'In any case, Indigenous' confiscated feed is imported into Hong Kong from the US and the bags are still sealed. Is the Japanese Department of Agriculture implying that, because the feed has been in transit via the Hong Kong Jockey Club, it has become contaminated, even though the bags are still sealed?'

Allan questioned whether this amounted to Japanese double standards over equine health issues. 'Japan's horses come to Hong Kong to compete successfully in our International Races and return to Japan and there have been no reports of any problems whatsoever,' he said. 'Does Japan's Department of Agriculture have a superior status for Japan and a contaminated status for Hong Kong?'

Allan stressed that his argument was with Japanese officialdom. 'I have always supported Japanese racing and have a good working relationship with the JRA. Personally, I enjoy my visits to Japan and have always had a high regard for Japanese lifestyle and customs,' he said. 'But the Department of Agriculture has treated us with irresponsible bureaucracy. They should have had the courtesy to alert us early so that we could have made alternative arrangements.'

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