Thoroughbreds Evacuate in Australia Amid Bushfires

Thoroughbreds on major farms and training centers in Victoria, Australia, have been evacuated as bushfires continue to rage across the state, a crisis the emergency services have described as "catastrophic." After temperatures soared Jan. 8, Friday's equally scorching and windy conditions contributed to scores of fires breaking out across the state. The Longwood area, situated between Seymour and Euroa, has been severely affected as the fires ripped through the area leading to hundreds of horses, both Thoroughbreds and other breeds, needing to be moved to safety in the past 48 hours. As conditions remain volatile across the region, neighboring stud farms such as Sullivan Bloodstock, Swettenham Stud, and Noorilim Park, have stepped up to assist properties, including Michael Christian's Longwood Thoroughbred Farm and the Leneva Park pretraining operation. After suffering damage to fences and paddocks Thursday, Leneva Park's Mick Sharkie said that there was no let up Friday and structures were now "under major threat" as winds continued to increase. He said via X: "Unfortunately Leneva Park has been hit again by fire today as the wind has strengthened. Structures under major threat, CFA doing their best to protect under much duress during this catastrophic event." Sharkie described in more detail the dire situation facing many of the industry participants and horse owners across the state of Victoria. "Our property was safe, so much so that the CFA allowed Channel 7 to come on the property and film with a crew to show the edge of the fire at the back boundary of the property," he told SEN Track. "They were filming and the wind changed. The fire literally leapt the hill in about two or three minutes and started racing down towards our place and we had to move people at a rate of knots." Remarkably, he said the mares and foals on his property escaped unscathed. "It's mind-boggling. Not one horse had a scratch on them. I was watching the Channel 7 vision and we saw some of our mares and foals skipping through a burnt out paddock and Sarah (Beaumont, operations manager) said she put them in that paddock, a big wide open paddock and prayed, but it caught fire. "She said she watched the foals lead the mares around the areas that were already burned. I don't know, they're just remarkable animals, they keep themselves safe." On Friday afternoon, Lindsay Park's Will Hayes confirmed in a statement to SEN that all horses, staff, and infrastructure were safe after the fires reached his family's famous Euroa property overnight. He said: "Last night we were hit directly—CFA (Country Fire Authority) are heroes. All horses are okay—they've been fed, have water, and all necessary veterinary treatments been given. Bunkering down for another scary day and thinking of everyone in the community." In response to the crisis, Inglis, the country's leading sales house, has opened its Oaklands Junction property in Melbourne to house horses from properties affected by the disaster. James Price, Inglis' Victorian bloodstock manager, said the decision followed discussions with Racing Victoria amid a surge in calls from concerned horse owners, with capacity available for several hundred horses. "Yesterday morning, we spoke to Racing Victoria and their welfare department, and they were concerned about the growing number of calls they were receiving from horse owners, around the state, about what may happen," Price told SENTrack. "We are obviously very happy to help anybody. Our gates are open, here at Oaklands. We have got stables bedded down, water, and staff available to help. Anybody who has horses in danger areas, or are concerned about conditions that may develop, please, just reach out."