Racing NSW had earlier prevented any horses which had been located in Victoria during the COVID-19 outbreak in that state from entering racing stables in New South Wales, despite the movement of horses for breeding and other purposes being permitted by the NSW Government, via permit.
In what has been described as 'phase one' of the easing of restrictions between the two states, Racing NSW has taken advice from its biosecurity expert which will allow the immediate resumption of cross border travel for horses not currently located in the Melbourne Greater Metropolitan Area, which remains under Stage 4 lockdown until at least September 13.
The border closure had caused considerable problems for those racing stables located along the New South Wales-Victorian border and the loosening of restrictions has been described as 'Christmas Day', by Albury-based trainer Mitch Beer.
Trainer Mitch Beer has described the loosening of restrictions as like 'Christmas Day'
Racing NSW has confirmed the drop in COVID-19 cases in Victoria to below 200 a day and the stabilisation of the infection rate had led to its decision.
It came a day after the New South Wales Government confirmed that it would open up cross-border movement for people located within 50km of the border.
However, Racing NSW confirmed all movement of people would still be governed by its protocols.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this policy does not permit any person to travel from Victoria into NSW without adhering to the Racing NSW’s General COVID-19 protocols, with the exception of persons transporting horses," Racing NSW said.
"For the avoidance of doubt, this policy does not permit any person to travel from Victoria into NSW without adhering to the Racing NSW’s General COVID-19 protocols." - Racing NSW
Racing NSW also reiterated that it retained the right to re-impose restrictions should the COVID-19 situation in Victoria deteriorate again.
It also confirmed a phase two of lifting of restrictions, which would allow horses within Metropolitan Melbourne, would be looked at in the future. That would be a huge positive for the major racing stables looking to campaign horses in feature races in both Melbourne and Sydney during the spring.
The requirements of the Racing NSW policy include:
- Cleansing of transport vehicles prior to travelling into NSW;
- Use of one transport driver;
- Application being made to and approval provided by Racing NSW Stewards prior to transportation;
- Horses to be transported to a spelling property or pre-training property that is not located on a NSW racecourse and horses must not be transported directly to a NSW racecourse or licensed stables and must remain on the spelling property or pre-training property for a minimum of 48 hours prior to being transported to a racecourse or licensed stable;
- All personnel undertake social distancing when loading and unloading horses;
- Ensuring all gear used to transport the horses to be returned to the transport vehicle once the horse has been unloaded;
- Declaration of person at NSW property that receives horses confirming compliance with Racing NSW Policy for the Transportation of Horses from Victoria.
