In the wake of a positive West Nile Virus (WNV) test on a Canadian Standardbred horse, almost 50 Thoroughbred shuttle stallions were released from Australia’s major quarantine station outside Sydney on the morning of Aug. 30.

The decision for the release of Astreos and the other stallions came after a national teleconference the previous day. The conference involved veterinary surgeons and administrators from the quarantine center, the Geelong Animal Heath Laboratory, and from the government body–the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).

Despite testing confirmation that Astreos had contacted WNV, they agreed that any danger of further infection had long since passed and ended the confinement for all stallions. (As far as researchers can tell, horses are dead-end hosts of WNV, meaning there is not significant enough viremia in the horse for mosquitoes to pass infection from an infected horse to an uninfected one.) As Astreos had made a complete recovery the Little Brown Jug winner was among nine standardbred stallions given the all clear.

The massive exodus of horses from the Eastern Creek complex started at 6 a.m. (Australian Easter Standard time) with all stallions rostered in the Hunter Valley arriving at their destinations by early afternoon. The North Ameican- based commuters included Belong to Me, Bianconi, Favorite Trick, Fusaichi Pegasus, Gilded Time, High Yield, Irgun, King Cogat, King of Kings, Langfuhr, Lion Cavern, More Than Ready, Real Quiet, Red Ransom, Royal Academy, Sandpit, Twining, and Urgent Request