IN-FLIGHT In what has been a very hectic few months with horse movements throughout the world, we now move in to the most exciting time of the year SPRING. With a new generation of babies being born and the Spring Racing Carnival starting, the world racing enthusiast focus on the rich Australian Racing Calander and the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Not only is the action happening in the Thoroughbred world, there is plenty to be excited about in the Showjumping industry with the running of the inauguaral Australian Jumping Teams League with the largest prize pool every offered in Australia. Based on a similar format to the Global Champions Tour, this is a very exciting concept for the sport. The Polo season gets under way in Sydney and EIAF will be supporting this event over the coming months. With the Tokyo Olympics less than 12 months away, Equestrian Australia’s High Performance Team are working through selections and identifying who may make the Australian Teams for Tokyo 2020. Congratulations to the Para Olympians who have all ready been nominated for selection and we watch carefully over the coming months who with be our National Representatives in the sports of Eventing, Dressage & Show Jumping. Enjoy your Spring! – Cameron Croucher
SCIENCE + TECHNOLOGY + DESIGN
Set to change the face of Australian Show-jumping, the Australian Jumping Teams League (AJTL) is due to jump-off this September. Based on the well-recognised Global Champions League the initial 2019 AJTL will be held over four rounds. The competition will comprise of 10 teams of four riders, one of which must be under 25. The jumping will be set at 1.40-1.45m with prize money on offer over $400,000, the richest in Australian history. At EIAF we feel it is important to support equestrian sport within Australia and promote innovative ideas. When we first heard about the AJTL, EIAF jumped straight on board and sponsored our own team. 1.
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Chris Chugg (Five-time Australian Champion & 10thWorld Cup Final Gothenburg 2016) 2. Gabi Kuna (Winner and placegetter of Multiple World Cup Rounds) 3. James Arkins (Winner of 4 World Cup Finals and experience competing in NZ & Europe) Elliot Reeves (Under 25, hailing from the UK, 2ndGold Tour Qualifier Aquis Champions Tour 2019)
Challenging Team Equine International Airfreight will be: Chatham Park, Emcee Apparel, HorsePower, Kiernan Haulage, Martin Collins Australia, Takapoto Estate, Yandoo Park, Oaks Sport Horses and Willinga Park. To add further excitement and exposure, the producers of Jump Off are creating a new TV series called “All Clear” which will cover the inaugural season of the AJTL. Following on from the brainwave of Michelle Lang-McMahon, who over the past number of years has run the Aquis Champions Tour, Chatham Park have taken over the running of the AJTL, focusing on Corporate Sponsorship. EIAF are excited to see the competition get under way and are enthusiastic to see the AJTL and the sport of Show jumping evolve. You can folllow all the news and results @teamEIAF
Event 1: Willinga Park, NSW Friday, Sept 13th 2019 Event 2: SIEC Indoor, NSW Tuesday night, Oct 1st 2019 Event 3: Sale, VIC Sunday, Nov 24th 2019 Event 4: Summer Classic SIEC, NSW Sunday, Dec 7th 2019
Quarantine is one of the major bureaucratic hurdles when transporting any animal across international borders, with Equine International Airfreight we handle this for you. With EIAF all our horses receive that extra special care. EIAF select only the best properties to uphold our high standards and level of care with knowledgeable and passionate staff. Maintenance of biosecurity standards and horse health/welfare are of the upmost importance. We use a variety of different pre-export quarantine (PEQ) facilities located near Sydney and Melbourne Airport. We place great importance on safe fencing and observant staff that frequently communicate with us. EIAF flight coordinators make regular visits to PEQ to check on the well-being of the horses, take photos, address any concerns that the PEQ manager may have and get to know the horses we will be travelling. Each quarantine is serviced by the Supervising Veterinary Surgeon allocated to that property, a dedicated farrier, equine dentist and other support professionals if needed. The quarantine regulations vary from country to country depending on where your horse’s final destination is, which will determine what pre-export quarantine is required. Each quarantine we use is regularly inspected by the Department of Agriculture and must at all times have a current ‘approval status’. Some of the properties in which we entrust our horses to are: Kings Park – Victoria Supreme Thoroughbreds – Victoria Jayes Park – Victoria Jazcom – NSW Shipton Lodge – NSW ara Palida - NSW Grandview Stud – Qld All of EIAF's quarantine farms are within close proximity to the departure points of international airports reducing the travel time from pick up to departure for the horses. Some of our quarantine farms have resident vets which provides a great level of instant service when required or alternatively have vet practices within close proximity to the quarantine facility. Other criteria that is considered when selection a quarantine farm is the properties feeding regime and practices. We need to ensure that feed levels are not compromised at all and horses obtain the best nutrition and supplements leading into a flight. In addition to our quarantine premises we also make use of other excellent equine facilities to hold horses not requiring official quarantine. One of these properties includes the renowned Diamond B Farm, owned and managed by the knowledgeable Helen Chugg. Diamond B offers pleasant all-weather yards, stables, paddocks, experienced staff and an onsite vet.
Champion Roaring Lion recently passed away at New Zealand's Cambridge Stud after suffering complications from colic. He was scheduled to stand at Cambridge after serving his first northern hemisphere mares earlier this year. Last year's champion European three-year-old, Roaring Lion was trained by John Gosden to win four Group One races from 1600m to 2000m, earning a Timeform rating of 130. Sheikh Fahad described Roaring Lion as the horse of a lifetime as he expressed his sorrow. "I am obviously distraught about Roaring Lion, he was so brave right to the end. He was a horse of a lifetime in all his characteristics I thank everyone at the Cambridge Equine hospital and Cambridge Stud for all their efforts and professionalism to the end. RIP," Henry Plumtree CEO of Cambridge Stud said. While in a tremendous loss, super stallion Deep Impact has died, aged 17. The Japanese star had to be euthanised after it was found he was unable to stand due to a cervical fracture. A seven-time Group I winner, Deep Impact was a champion both on and off the track. Deep Impact won 12 of his 14 career starts, including the highly coveted Japan Cup in 2006. He was twice a winner of the Japanese Horse Of The Year (2005-2006) and was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall Of Fame in 2008. Deep Impact was retired to stud in 2007 and quickly built a reputation as one of the world’s leading sires. Deep Impact stood at Shadai Stallion Station and had an approx. service fee of $490,000 Australian in 2019. He was crowned Japanese Champion Sire for seven consecutive years from 2012 to 2018 and sired Group I Mackinnon Stakes and Toorak Handicap (both in 2017) winner Tosen Stardom and 2015 George Ryder champ Real Impact were both sired by the Japanese star.
As an Extreme Choice weanling colt was led out of the Inglis Great Southern Sale Oaklands Junction sale ring in June, much admired Thoroughbred auctioneer Peter Heagney said, "he's done and so am I, $65,000, thank you". Peter had wielded the professional gavel, which he had done for more than five decades during an illustrious auctioneering career, for the final time. While predominantly auctioning Tho roughbreds over the past 53-years, Peter also sold other livestock including standardbreds, brumbies, cattle, sheep, pigs, donkeys, chooks, ostriches, as well as saddlery, books and paintings. "I love auctions, so I am happy to sell whatever is put before me," Peter said. In 1975, Peter took an opportunity to auctioneer Thoroughbreds in Perth, before moving on to Dalgety Bloodstock. When Sydney headqu artered William Inglis and Son took over Dalgety's ownership in 1994, Peter became their important Victorian DID component in the company's two state Thoroughbred sales. "An auctioneer's challenge is to have the vendor convinced that you have extracted every dollar that is available for his or her horse, and at the same time have the purchaser believe that he or she has bought good value. It gave me great satisfaction if I could obtain more money than a vendor was expecting." "I guess auctioneers have to perform, and a little humour and light-hearted banter is fine, but we also have to be mindful that in many cases we are dealing with people's livelihoods and it is a serious business."
YOU KNOW?
EIAF was thrilled to attend the JRHA July Yearling and Weanling Sales to witness another record breaking foal session with Hip#358, colt by Deep Impact out of Titan Queen, the sale topper. The consignment from Northern Racing was bought by Riichi Kondo, for US$4,272,728, which is the fourth highest price seen at the foal session of JRHA Select Sale. “He has everything. Beautiful conformation and very good mover. And I like his head particularly, which gives me special feeling”. “Market was very strong and it was really good sale, especially for Northern Farm.”, Teruya Yoshida, active chairman of JRHA “We have received many first time visitors from foreign countries this year and it is really good for horse racing and breeding industry. I am very glad to hear that they are saying the quality of Japanese-bred horses is very high. The top lot in the yearling sale session was Hip#51, colt by Deep Impact, the full brother to Mikki Queen(JPN), champion three-year-old filly in 2015. Austrailians in attendance included Gai Waterhouse, Chris Waller, Robert Roulston, Mark Player, Arrowfield Group, Bruce Neal from Cressfield, Mr Zhang from Yulong, Magic Millions representatives and Aquis.
DID YOU KNOW?
Often, the team at EIAF are asked to arrange the relocation of equipment and tack along with the horses, with the most familiar requests are horses travelling for competition purposes or owners relocating with their horses. Each country and airline have their own conditions for the transport of used horse equipment. How much horse equipment can I bring? We can accommodate anything from one bag to our most recent movement of horse competition tack and equipment consisted of 1,300kg of gear spread over 83 bags! You need to provide to EIAF an itemised packing list, the total weight and the total value. How does my horse equipment travel? For very small quantities, for example a rug or a saddle we can often take this in the stall with the horses, it will be located in the grooms area. For all other equipment it can travel as loose freight, or we can book an airline container that will travel on the same flight as the horses. Containers vary in size from 4m³ to 7m³. Is there anything that we can’t pack? Some items are considered dangerous goods and are unable to travel, such as Aerosols, Lithium Batteries & Air cannisters for XC airvests. Importing horse supplements and feed is also often heavily restricted in most countries. With most horse feeds/supplements containing ‘natural’ ingredients and as such require their own import permit. In most cases we are unable to transport horse feed/supplements. Do varying importing countries have different requirements? Items being imported into NZ or AUS are carefully inspected by Biosecurity officers and must be of a very high cleanliness standard. In particular, all Velcro, fleece, cloth, sheepskin etc must be free from mud, dirt and seeds. All items should be free of any contamination which could risk them being confiscated. Other countries worldwide vary in their import/biosecurity requirements. Are there any extra costs involved? Costs incurred are airfreight per kg/airline container costs, documentation fees, customs and any biosecurity inspection expenses. Used horse equipment can be subject to Tax/Import duties in the importing country. How do we deliver the equipment to the aircraft? The equipment must be neatly packed in strong bags that can be easily lifted (i.e. no more than 20kg each). Horse equipment must usually arrive at the airport the morning or the day before the scheduled departure of the horses. This will be loaded by EIAF/owners and/or freight staff. Pictured Top: Cleaning preparation of used horse equipment, Middle: An airline container and Bottom: loading equipment.
Again there was a large contingent of Philippine Buyers attend the Magic Millions National Sale in June. Focusing their purchases on yearlings and racing stock, the buyers collectively acquired 30 horses between them at this sale. The Philippines currently have 3 major race tracks/ clubs in Manila and are constantly trying in increase the numbers of horses headed to the region. EIAF organised a charter flight to get these purchases home along with other breeds including Polo and sport horses destined for the Manila Polo Club and the Manila Equestrian Centre. Many of the Magic Millions buyers have been long term clients of EIAF and we are delighted to again be sponsoring Klub Don Juan in a featured race in late November for international imports.
It was plane smooth sailing for EIAF undertaking their first subsidised charter to be organised directly out from the Magic Millions June Sale into Auckland. Many NZ clients took advantage of this service and horses were safely loaded at Brisbane Airport with a direct flight to Auckland. Credit must be given to Grandview Stud, one of our approved quarantine stations, for providing first class care for all of the horses between the fall of the hammer and the departure point at Brisbane Airport. Horse wellbeing is our priority, and all horses travellled in style. Even the weanlings were afforded plenty of room in their own individual bays, rather than being crammed with four to a stall.
Three brothers from the one family recently working at Brisbane Airport to assist with the Charter from Magic Millions to New Zealand – Photographed here is Cameron, Glen and Michael Croucher at the loading point with eldest brother Glen, who is an experienced flying groom travelling on the flight and off loading the horses in Auckland while Cameron and Michael stayed back to clean up and complete paperwork.
1) How long have you been involved in the horse industry? 20 years - through memberships in various race clubs and racing small shares in horses to working professionally in the industry. 2) What has been your previous work experience within the horse industry: I worked for the Australian Turf Club for 3 years just after the merger of the STC and AJC. 3) Who is your favourite horse of all time? Before Winx and Black Caviar there was the other mighty mare - Makybe Diva. A personal highlight was being on track for her Cox Plate and then witnessing her 3rd Cup 10 days later. 4) Accounting can be quite boring but what makes your role at EIAF more interesting? Having the opportunity to use my accounting qualifications within an industry I am passionate about was always my goal. Thus if I wasn’t working at Cricket Australia the horse industry is where I wanted to be! 5) Does it help to have an understanding of the industry in order to do your job? Definitely. The industry has its own personality and vernacular. From working at the ATC through to a different arm of the industry here at EIAF, you see that it is one big family that looks to work together with the wellbeing of the horse being our top priority. 6) Does being part of a small team allow you to assist in other areas of the business? That is a great attraction of working at EIAF. Our days are varied and we get to chip in and help each other when necessary. It also allows me to learn more about our business on a daily basis which I thoroughly enjoy. 7) Will we see you at the airport assisting with horse movements more often in the future? I believe so. It is great to witness our experienced grooms do their thing and I take any opportunity to spend more time around the horses and out of the office!
Loyal EIAF client and regular passenger Stuart Tinney Celebrates at Melbourne International 3 Day Event when victorious in the Pryde's EasiFeed CCI4*-L, after jumping clear in the final phase of the competition. Stuart lead the charge from the very beginning with his magnificent chestnut, who is aptly named, Celebration owned by Elisabeth Brinton. Stuart also placed 6th and 7th on his two other rides Leporis and Wanda, respectively. "He jumped super in there, he had lots of energy this morning and worked really well and he jumped as well as he always does, I am very happy." "They all stepped up this weekend and they are all quite green at this level, so I couldn't be happier with them" said Stuart of his performances across the weekend. As part of his prize Stuart will also receive Rasta D, a yearling colt by Royaldik / Falvelon xx, purpose-bred for eventing by Davidson Equestrian. “Celebration was imported by EIAF from Europe in late 2016 under the name of “Comme Ci Comme Ca” and is another one of our well performed travellers.
Held at the SIEC, the Waratah Showjumping on the 22nd – 25th August 201 by Edwena Mitchell played host to the FEI 1* and a World Cup qualifier. With a great atmosphere and competitiveness throughout the four day show, it was a thoroughly enjoyable show for rider and spectator alike. EIAF were excited to be involved this year with sponsorship of the 1.30m Young Rider Grand Prix, supporting and encouraging upcoming young riders. Some fantastic riding by the 22 riders over what was challenging course in the indoor. Some EIAF transported horses also making an appearance. Sally Simmonds from Bourke, NSW came out victorious finishing in 0 faults and a time of 28.820 followed closely by Amelia Douglas (2nd) and Madeline Sinderberry (3rd). We look forward to another great event as a class sponsor next year!