3 minute read

The planning that goes into sending a Tasmanian horse to race in Victoria has always been a complex process but the arrival of the COVID-19 virus sent the industry into a tailspin.

In Brief

• Trainer's daughter must quarantine for two weeks after each venture to Victoria.
• Still A Star worth the exercise says Monica Ryan.
• Tassie's two best mares to face off in Group 2 Let's Elope on Saturday.

This weekend Tasmania's two most revered mares, Mystic Journey and Still A Star, make the trip across Bass Strait with eyes on the Group 2 Let's Elope Stakes over 1400m at Flemington on Saturday

t is the starting point for both mares as they edge their way towards the Group 1 Empire Rose at Flemington on VRC Derby Day, 30 October.

Mystic Journey's connections have opted to send their superstar unattended, as she is an experienced traveller and will be collected at the other end by stable representatives of where she is staying.

But Still A Star is a different kettle of fish, as she can be quite temperamental, so her trainer Bill Ryan has been afforded the luxury of his daughter Ms M Ryan who has agreed to "take one for the team", as she most aptly put it when interviewed at Longford this week.

Given the responsibility of looking after the most precious piece of livestock ever to grace the grounds of Bill and Mary Ryan's property on Pateena Road at Longford, Monica initially took it in her stride, but as the COVID-19 situation in Victoria worsened, it became more obvious how daunting this venture might be.

For Monica it is a trip like no other. She explains her feelings leading up to the first of potentially three trips to Melbourne that will result in her having to spend two weeks in isolation (self-quarantine) upon her return from each event in which Still A Star competes, leading up to and including the Empire Rose.