The NSW Government will today consider providing financial support to the racing industry as plans are completed to vaccinate later this week an initial 9000 racing horses and breeding stallions exposed to equine influenza.

NSW plans to use the first supplies of the vaccine to establish a buffer zone around areas where equine influenza has become established, as part of its efforts to contain the disease.

Of the initial delivery of 20,000 doses of the vaccine to arrive in Australia late on Thursday, NSW is to receive a little over 9000, the same as Queensland, with the remaining doses to be used to vaccinate horses participating in Victoria's spring racing carnival.

Next week a further 30,000 doses of the vaccine will arrive, and 100,000 additional doses will be ordered today. This is the total stock of the vaccine able to treat the variant of equine influenza in the eastern states.

The decision to vaccinate those horses most exposed to influenza comes as the racing and horse breeding industries are faced with a further prolonged shutdown following the spread of the highly contagious disease to Warwick Farm over the past few days, which forced the cancellation of a race meeting at Rosehill on Saturday.

"Basically it is to vaccinate valuable working horses, whether they be in the breeding industry, the racing industry, and also the harness racing and high-level equestrian horses," the NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macfarlane, said.

"NSW has an adequate allocation to start the buffer zone work, as well as to vaccinate horses in areas that have so far not contracted the disease - that's primarily Rosehill, the Central Coast, Newcastle, and we will discuss other areas with Racing NSW."

The priority in the buffer zone includes the Hawkesbury, Newcastle and up through the Hunter Valley to Tamworth, he said. "It will take around two weeks for the antibody to build up and within that time we will have another 100,000 extra doses coming in." In total, NSW expects to vaccinate 20,000 horses, Mr Macfarlane said.

There is a three-week incubation period for horses that receive the vaccine.

Once NSW thoroughbred racing horses have been vaccinated and given boosters, the Government is keen that vaccinated horses be allowed to race in the Victorian spring racing carnival.

"We're hoping this is the big breakthrough we've been looking for," said the head of Racing NSW, Peter V'Landys. "We wanted 4000 [doses]. We wanted to do our racing stock straight away and horses on agistment farms and in pre-training centres."

Mr V'Landys said the focus now is on reducing the risk of equine influenza, rather than conducting more race meetings.

"We won't conduct a meeting at Rosehill this weekend. We're not taking any risks. We won't conduct a meeting at Kembla Grange. Our aim now is to vaccinate as many horses as possible."

Racing will continue in areas free of the disease, such as Coffs Harbour, Ballina and Wagga Wagga, he said.

The industry has been given some financial assistance by the Federal Government. It is calling for additional assistance from the NSW Government, which will be assessed at a meeting today between Mr Macfarlane and the Minister for Gaming and Racing, Graham West.