At the time of writing, the VATC will be holding their final race meeting at Caulfield on 29 December 2001 after 125 years.. The VATC is one of Melbourne’s oldest racing clubs. It is home to the Caulfield Cup among other notable races. From 1 January 2002, the VATC will effectively be known as the Melbourne Racing Club. The name change is part of a broader vision for one of Australia’s most noted racing administrations. The first meeting to be conducted by the Melbourne Racing Club will be conducted on Sunday 6 January 2002.

Strangles has recently been diagnosed in a group of harness racing horses at Inverell Showgrounds in northern NSW. Strangles is a highly contagious bacterial disease in horses and is a notifiable disease under the Stock Diseases Act of NSW. It is spread by horses that have been infected but apparently recovered. These carrier animals infect susceptible animals with which they have come in contact.

NSW Department of Agriculture officials have no intention of imposing formal quarantine of affected premises in the region.

However, there are a number of common sense procedures that should be undertaken by trainers in the face of a possible threat from strangles and other infectious respiratory diseases:

• Affected and in-contact horses should be isolated from other horses

• Monitor the health and temperature of all horses twice daily

• Isolate all new arrivals into stable premises for at least two weeks.

• In the event of an outbreak of strangles or other infectious respiratory disease in racehorses in a racing stable:

• Isolate sick horses at the first signs of illness

• Isolate ion-contact horses and monitor their temperature

• Seek early veterinary assistance

• Prevent contact between sick and healthy horses

• Refuse entry of new horses unless they can be kept in isolation

• Avoid sending horses from affected premises to racemeetings and training tracks until the possibility of a serious contagious disease has been ruled out.

• Make sure that your veterinary surgeon notifies relevant authorities such as the local district veterinary officer and/or NSW Agriculture’s Technical Specialist in Equine Health. Trainers should also notify their local Chairman of Stewards or the TRB Veterinary Department.

The NSW TRB has announced that the minimum riding weights will rise by 1 kilo in NSW from New Year’s Day. The metropolitan minimum weight is now 53kg and the country minimum rising to 54kg. Consequently, all overweight allowances will now be eliminated including the night racing allowance.

The TRB also announced that the minimum topweight at declaration time should be set at 59kg. By setting a minimum topweight any further compression of weights is alleviated. It should be noted that this is a minimum topweight, not a maximum and the handicapper can allot in excess of 59kg where it is warranted.

The use of diuretics by jockeys will be banned from 1 January 2002. The TRB and the NSWJA (Jockeys’ Association) will co-ordinate an education program of riders in respect of proper management of weight loss and the risks of dehydration.

NSWTRB announces that a new programming will commence in March 2002

The NSWTRB has considered the recommendations put forward from the recent Racing Industry Forum and subsequently endorsed them. Those recommendations, which are designed to strengthen metropolitan racing and make it easier for trainers to place horses, include:

• No 2MW and 2MWLY races to be programme

• Saturday races will be programmed as 1MW, 1MWLY or Open

In addition to the above, a uniform prizemoney bar of $19,000 will be applied to determine eligibility for metropolitan racing. Whereas in the past every horse which won a race in a metropolitan area, including New Zealand and Tasmania and irrespective of the prizemoney amount, was deemed a metropolitan winner. Now, unless the prizemoney to the winner exceeds $19,000, the win will not count as a metropolitan win for NSW purposes. However, a win with prizemoney to the winner in excess of $19,000 at any venue will be deemed a metropolitan winner for eligibility purposes. The Board also accepted the proposition that there should be a more even spread of prizemoney across non-metropolitan races; this will be discussed with the clubs before any further action is taken.

The metropolitan changes will be put in place from 1 March 2002 and also from that date all Maiden races in NSW will be conducted under set-weight conditions.

A review of the current set-weights scale for Maidens will be initiated before then, and six months after the introduction a review of any impact on non-TAB racing will be carried out.