The racing business: an industry places its bets on research
Press release
26 October 2007
The equine flu crisis has cast a spotlight on the science behind the sport of kings, Nerissa Hannink reports.
The chill dawn air betrays the breath of horses and trainers. Strappers groom and saddle the thoroughbreds. Stewards report on turf conditions. Preparations for a day of racing are underway. Patrons will soon file into the track and enjoy one of 50 days in Victoria's largest sporting event – the Spring Racing Carnival.
Few may reflect on the magnitude of the work that goes into producing the Carnival, but many are aware of the equine flu outbreak that has highlighted the size and importance of the racing industry.
When he launched this year’s Spring Racing Carnival Premier John Brumby estimated the gross economic benefit arising from the Spring Racing Carnival in 2006 was $628.8 million.
Visitors to the Carnival in 2006 spent a record amount of $49.1 million on corporate race day packages and more than $25 million on fashions, he said.
What he did not mention was the army of veterinarians and other scientists – many from the University of Melbourne – who also work unheralded behind the scenes to promote a safe and successful racing industry.
Dr James Gilkerson, President of the Equine Veterinary Association and virologist at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, has been working hard to prevent the spread of equine flu and put measures in place to enable the Carnival to go ahead this year.
Much like most strains of human flu, equine influenza is not a permanent disease and affected animals will generally recover and no longer be infectious but high performance horses can take three to four months to fully recover.
It is rarely fatal, but in unusual circumstances it can cause deaths in foals and very old animals. A small proportion of otherwise healthy horses can develop secondary pneumonia.
“Vaccination was the only way to go to insure the health of thoroughbreds,” he says. “Vaccination helps them get over the disease faster, however it doesn’t stop them getting the flu, they still get ill but not as severely.
“The best defence for the racing industry has been the quarantine procedures put in place; controlling and containing the virus out of Victoria has been the key.”
During this racing season the movement of horses, ponies, mules, donkeys and zebra, as well as horse products and equipment, is prohibited from New South Wales and Queensland into Victoria.
“This is imperative because horses are infected by inhalation of the virus from other horses, but the virus can survive in water for days, in horse urine for five to six days and can survive at least overnight on the track and trailers so it can be carried between horses on hands, clothing, saddles and equipment,” Dr Gilkerson says.
The Department of Primary Industries and Victoria Police are currently monitoring the NSW/Victoria border to prevent the movement into Victoria and offenders can be fined up to $26 400 and/or face 24 months imprisonment.
Dr Gilkerson was also involved in choosing the vaccine which involved some serious consideration in order for it to take effect before the Spring Carnival.
“We needed rapid immunity and a broad immune response so we recommended a live virus,” he says. “We also selected a type which lets us determine who has been vaccinated and who hasn’t.”
The problem has been in timing the vaccinations. Horses need to be vaccinated well before a race to give them time to recover and then need a booster two weeks after that. Thoroughbreds will then need to have biannual injections.
It is not known how the Australian equine flu outbreak began but Dr Gilkerson and colleagues are investigating this as part of the Callinan Inquiry, which begins public hearings in November.
“There’s no evidence as to where it came from at the moment but there must have been a breakdown in quarantine before entry to Australia,” he says.
“Horses are quarantined before entering Australia for 21 days before and two weeks after so it seems that something has gone wrong post-arrival.
“We hope that the vaccination and quarantine programs mean that the flu does not become endemic in Australia. The hidden cost of respiratory disease overseas is huge and they have had to accept and live with it.”
The welfare of horses – and of jockeys – is a major concern of racing industry-related research.
Professor Ken Hinchcliff, Dean of Veterinary Science, is investigating the treatment of Exercise Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage (EIPH), a condition where horses bleed from the lungs.
The condition affects up to 75 per cent of thoroughbreds around the world.
When galloping, horses’ hearts have a very high cardiac output which pushes blood through the circulation to the lungs.
This creates a very high pressure in lungs where capillaries may rupture and release blood into the lung.
The cause is not fully understood but it is thought to be a stress failure of the capillaries. Blood in the air spaces impairs the exchange of oxygen and acts as an irritant stimulating an inflammatory response and can lead to scarring in the lung.
The effects of bleeding are likely to accumulate, leading to significant decreases in performance as demonstrated by Professor Hinchcliff and colleagues from the University of Melbourne and Racing Victoria.
When experiencing this condition, horses can stumble and ‘pull up’ which is also a safety issue for jockeys. The condition is rarely fatal but impairment from the condition does lead to early retirement of horses.
The drug furosemide, known as Lasix, is widely used in America to prevent EIPH but Professor Hinchcliff and his collaborators from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and Colorado State University, want to know how effective it actually is in treating the condition.
“It is a practice that started in the 1960s but hasn’t really been validated yet,” Professor Hinchcliff says.
“Around $35 million a year is spent on EIPH treatment in the US. Over 90 per cent of thoroughbred race horses are given furosemide four hours before the race as a preventative measure.”
Furosemide is a diuretic so it induces water loss in the horse and can make it five to 10kg lighter before a race. It can also mask other drugs and so is banned in Australia. It is also banned in South Africa which makes this the ideal location for Professor Hinchcliff's study as most horses there have not encountered the drug before.
“We will be enrolling 180 horses to race twice a week, one week apart,” he says.
“In one race they will receive the drug, and the second time we will give a placebo in a double blind trial where no-one knows what the horses were given until later. After the race the horses will have an endoscope examination to look for blood in the airways.
“Whether this drug can actually prevent EIPH is the major question surrounding the condition so, the findings will widely benefit the industry.”
Every year, the racing industry has a new intake of thoroughbreds to train up.
At the yearling sales, radiographic examination is used to give buyers an indication of their condition.
Dr Chris Whitton, also from Veterinary Science, is supervising a study which examines the usefulness of this screening.
“In the first couple of years there were problems with radiographic quality and interpretation,” he says.
“With experience things have improved but the process still needed improvement.”
Dr Whitton is supervising PhD student Melissa Jackson who is conducting the study.
More than 2000 radiographs submitted to yearling sales were assessed for their quality and whether abnormalities that were detected on radiographs had any effect on future performance.
The study found that certain views afto positioning of the horse.
The findings have generated recommendations to veterinarians on how to improve image quality and therefore the usefulness of the radiograph for prospective owners.
Ms Jackson then looked at the effect of orthopaedic conditions identified on the radiographs and the effect they had on performance.
She found that apart from one or two conditions, most had no effect on racing performance, which will help veterinarians make recommendations for yearlings with problems identified on radiographs.
For further information please contact the Marketing Manager, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Melbourne, Tel: 8344 7844 or email: vet-communications@unimelb.edu.au