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Coolmore Stallions returned to America Coolmore Australia will send three of its star stallions back to the United States in a preemptive move to protect them in the event the equine influenza outbreak spreads to Coolmore. The three stallions currently in the New South Wales Hunter Valley -- Tale of the Cat, Johannesburg and Lion Heart -- will be sent back to America to avoid any chance of them being stranded in Australia at the end of the breeding season. "American importation rules insist that no horse can come into the country unless it has been on a disease-free farm for at least 60 days prior," said Coolmore media representative James Bester. "While Coolmore at Jerry's Plains is to this point free of equine influenza, it was regarded as a prudent decision to send some of the horses back to America." Coolmore was granted a special permit to move the horses to Sydney to board a waiting plane as the stud has been free from equine influenza and is outside any current restriction zone. "It was a compromise that had to be made for Ashford Farm in America," Coolmore Australia general manager Michael Kirwan commented. "We're between a rock and a hard place. It's impossible to keep everyone happy, although in retaining Fusaichi Pegasus, Dehere and Royal Academy, we still have some high-profile horses for Australian breeders. The Americans have Tale of the Cat and his son Lion Heart, plus Johannesburg: so it's an even split, with three each."
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