Fearless 來港遙遙無期
霍利時隻南非超級馬 Fearless係上年11月閹完後，進入檢疫中心等候飛英再來香港。
怎料，在檢疫樣本之中，不幸比懷疑染上性病，後雖經証明並未有病毒，但已經錯過了在半年間僅有的飛機航班，現在來港無期。如果目前須要飛去英國，包機的飛行費用高達１７０萬港紙。
David Ferraris’ gelding “Fearless”, due for Hong Kong, left my stables on 19 November 2006 to undergo a quarantine period of 40 days in Cape Town.
I was advised that the horse had to leave immediately for quarantine, as there would not be air transport for another 3 to 6 months. I accordingly scratched the horse from the Dingaans, a race, which in my humble opinion I consider, he would have run well.
Apparently the procedure when horses arrive at the Quarantine Station is that their blood is taken, but not tested until a further sample is taken 10 days before they leave for their destination. Only then are both samples tested for Dourine.
Fearless and two other horses blood results returned “suspect”. Another sample was taken form the horses and sent to two or three S.A. Laboratories, with the same results. A third blood sample was taken and sent to Dubai, America and England - these tested negative for Dourine.
The whole situation is laughable, as to my knowledge (in the 50 years that I have had to do with horses) it is unheard of for a horse who was gelded three months after entering a stable from the sales to be Dourine suspect. This leaves much to be desired from our S.A. Laboratories.
However, the major issue is that the horse is still in quarantine and a chartered flight to England will cost 203 Thousand American Dollars.
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