The strict border conditions in Western Australia will mean the Ascot racing carnival will be without some of the leading contenders in the feature races.
Western Australia’s strict stance on border controls means there will be no more flights to WA from Eastern states ahead of their feature racing carnival at Ascot.
Air Horse Transport’s Chris Calthorpe spoke to Racing.com on the issue saying the border restrictions have made it impossible to transport any horses to Perth in lead up the the feature races including the Winterbottom Stakes and the Railway Stakes.
“The only one from the eastern states that will be there for the Winterbottom is Trekking,” Calthorpe said.
“We took him over after the Manikato, which wasn’t ideal. But I said to (trainer) James (Cummings) that if you don’t get there now, you may not get there.
“The Premier has shut the border, so they won’t get anyone. The Perth carnival is going to suffer.
“I’ve done a flight out of Sydney last week and the week before that. Kementari and Trekking went, and Gailo Chop two weeks ago.
“Last week I took Bob (Peters’) two Windstorm and Superstorm and Trap For Fools.
“It’s obviously going to be not a very strong Winterbottom, not a very strong Railway.”
