HRV recognises that the treatment of injuries and other specialist care required for horses is expensive, so Harness Racing Victoria (HRV) will be providing financial assistance to licensed participants when needing to obtain an accurate diagnosis/prognosis for horses who are seriously injured while competing at racetracks.
HRV will reimburse the licensed participant responsible for the affected horse's veterinary care all reasonable off-track veterinary costs for diagnosis and treatment of the horse(s) as part of the Specialist Veterinary Referral Subsidy (SVRS) up to a maximum of $2,500 each (including GST).
- The subsidy will cover all Victorian racetracks where horses are competing for prizemoney.
- The participant will have responsibility for the horse, including arranging timely transport to the Specialist Veterinary Referral Centre.
- The participant is responsible for paying all costs associated for services provided by the Specialist Veterinary Referral Centre account.
- The participant will receive the SVRS as a reimbursement of expenses upon presentation of required documents from the Specialist Veterinary Referral Centre.
For the purposes of the subsidy a ‘Specialist Veterinary Referral Centre’ would be the referral centres where the appropriate skill, expertise and diagnostic equipment are available. These centres are the following:
- U-Vet Werribee Equine Centre;
- Ballarat Veterinary Practice;
- Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital;
- Bendigo Equine Hospital;
- Morphettville Equine Hospital (covering South Australian participants at Mildura race meetings).
Only serious veterinary conditions which have an immediate need for specialist veterinary care would be covered by the subsidy. Examples would include suspected fracture, severe laceration, severe colic, neurological disease etc. It does not cover trial meetings and/or horses getting injured enroute to the racetrack and/or leaving the racetrack and heading back to registered training establishments.
Following are links to relevant information, frequently asked questions and an application form for this new initiative that will be effective from 1 January 2022.
Specialist Veterinary Referral Subsidy - Procedure
Specialist Veterinary Referral Subsidy - Frequently Asked Questions