At the end of August we reported the threat to the Australian horseracing industry from a suspected outbreak of equine influenza. The virus has now swept through New South Wales and Queensland, already cutting turnover at Tabcorp Holdings, Australia’s largest gaming operator, to the tune of A$240 million. This amount is expected to double before horseracing gets back to normal, even though Sydney has been given the go-ahead to resume racing on 1 December.

Chief executive of Racing NSW, Peter V’landys, claims that if betting exchanges are allowed access to racing in the state it would be devastating for the local industry. The NSW government is considering a proposal to license online betting exchange Betfair, 50% owned by PBL. V’landys argues that the move would lead to the loss of million of dollars of tax revenue for NSW as well as a large reduction in revenue to the racing industry.

Betfair disputes this claim, saying it was based on a discredited report from two years ago, but whether the NSW government licenses betting exchanges or not, it is the equine influenza epidemic that has caused huge losses to many involved racing. However, this has emphasised the importance of the industry to the state and seems set to bring about reforms much faster than would have happened before the onset of the virus. (E-10.29.07)

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