Not Plane Sailing for Interstate Raiders

It’s been a topsy-turvy 96 hours for connections of horses that were locked in to travel to Queensland from the southern states. First reported last week, Air Horse Transport principal Chris Calthorpe found himself and his clients in a state of suspended disbelief when Queensland health officials, due to COVID 19 concerns, decided to ban the usual Tuesday Cathay Pacific flight to Brisbane that originates in Hong Kong. Calthorpe, ironically, found himself facing the same dilemma as his clients as he is also trainer of recent Gr1 Australasian Oaks winner Media Award (Shamus Award) – also heading to Brisbane. In a welcome conversi corde suo by officials late on Sunday, racenet.com.au reports that Tuesday’s flight has now been green-lighted. Left scrambling to find a vaccinated groom to travel with the horses, Calthorpe is just relieved that a resolution could be found: “In this environment, I am just happy to be traveling again. We all know how hard everything is at the moment so it is good to be flying.” Among the expected equine passengers is Gytrash (Lope de Vega) who will have derived plenty of improvement from his first-up placing in the recent Gr1 Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville. Not so lucky, according to thewest.com.au, is Perth trainer Adam Durrant whose duo Come Play With Me (Blackfriars) and Massimo (Sessions) have been left stranded in Perth. “The original issue was the quarantine situation flying from Melbourne to Brisbane, but as of this morning we can’t even get out of Perth tomorrow (Monday) night as planned,” commented a disconsolate Durrant. “There isn’t a box to fly them in. I’m pretty disappointed.”