By Leigh JordonWith the major European races impacting Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival run and won, the international spotlight now turns to the TAB Werribee International Horse Centre as we prepare to welcome the first horses on September 29.The first challenge this year is how we fit them all in! There are two compounds at Werribee, the Newminster Compound which has accommodation for 16 horses, and the Vintage Crop compound that accommodates eight horses.Travel arrangements for internationa

By Leigh Jordon

With the major European races impacting Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival run and won, the international spotlight now turns to the TAB Werribee International Horse Centre as we prepare to welcome the first horses on September 29.

The first challenge this year is how we fit them all in! There are two compounds at Werribee, the Newminster Compound which has accommodation for 16 horses, and the Vintage Crop compound that accommodates eight horses.

Travel arrangements for international racehorses heading to Australia remain one of the great challenges facing those electing to head Down Under and compete.

Across the world quarantine requirements vary from one country to another but, as a general rule, horses are required to complete a quarantine period of 7 to 10 days on arrival. In comparison, horses travelling to Australia generally complete a total of five weeks quarantine, a 30-hour plus flight from Europe as well as multiple stops in countries like Dubai and Singapore.

Even the most seasoned traveller would be knocked around by such an exhausting schedule.

Just so that everyone is in the loop let me have a go at explaining the quarantine situation...

The Federal Government has divided the world into four regions, so if horses arrive at the same time from different regions, the period of quarantine is two weeks of quarantine in the country of origin and three weeks in Australia. However, if the shipment of horses into Australia is from a single region, the period of quarantine is two weeks in the country of origin, followed by two weeks in Australia (not three weeks). Hopefully you're following.

And as you would expect, both on arrival and prior to departure, there is a raft of quarantine protocols in place including the need for quarantine horses to be separated from non-quarantined horses by a distance of at least 100 metres.

OK, time to stop on the technical stuff, but the point is that the Australian Government is looking at quarantine reform and that can only be a good thing for Australian racing.

The first shipment of European horses arrives into Australia on September 29th, smack bang on AFL Grand Final Day.

If there were no quarantine requirements last year's champion Dunaden could have provided the half time entertainment at the MCG. I am sure many who saw Meatloaf last year who would have welcomed a song or two from Dunaden!

I must admit, it's great to see Dunaden return and aim specifically at the BMW Caulfield Cup. What a contest it promises to be if Red Cadeaux and Dunaden were to line up in that event.

In any case, it promises to be yet another intriguing Spring and I, for one, can't wait. (www.racingvictoria.net.au)