Queensland Racing Limited (QRL) chief operations manager Malcolm Tuttle finally has something to smile about.

A "relieved" Tuttle on Friday announced thoroughbred racing with TAB coverage was set to resume in south-east Queensland from December 1 - two months earlier than expected.

Brisbane's Eagle Farm and Doomben tracks as well as the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast were on Friday tipped as likely venues for the long awaited resumption, after the outbreak of equine influenza (EI).

"Things are looking brighter. We start to sense things are starting to get back to normal," a beaming Tuttle said.

"We won't see wall to wall racing from December 1. We will see a staggered approach because we simply don't have a fit horse population ready to go from December 1."

Racing was initially not expected to resume in the region until as late as February 1.

"When we made that initial announcement we simply did not want to build unreasonable industry expectations," Tuttle said.

"But we have a lot more experience now. We are further down the track, we understand a lot more about the virus and we are a lot more confident now than say six weeks ago."

Racing in the state's south-east has been shut down since EI was discovered in some racehorses at Hendra and then Deagon last month.

The highly-infectious virus has subsequently worked its way through the entire racehorse population at Hendra where horses are stabled for training at Eagle Farm and Doomben.

Tuttle said many tracks in the region would be re-opened for light trackwork from Monday and a series of jumpouts and barrier trials would be scheduled leading up to the recommencement date.

"In setting Saturday, December 1 date for the resumption of racing, trainers now have the opportunity to consider whether to let their horses down or continue with a trackwork program targeted at a racing resumption at that time," Tuttle said.

"A series of jumpouts and trials would be scheduled leading up to December 1 to enable horses to undertake a pre-racing regime to ensure their fitness for a return to racing.

"Many of the tracks in south-east Queensland will be re-opened for light trackwork as from Monday."

Tuttle said racing would resume from December 1 even if there was an outbreak in the clean Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast precincts.

He said the QRL would start thinking about the comeback meeting's program in the next couple of weeks.

Tuttle said QRL would continue to monitor Ipswich and Toowoomba, the two most recent areas infected by EI, although the initial signs were positive from racehorses in those areas.

"From what we've seen at Toowoomba and Ipswich thus far, the horses that have contracted EI have had the capacity to overcome the illness in a shorter period of time and it appears likely that the virus will not spread through the entire horse populations," he said.

"It looks as though the first inoculations have had a positive effect on the level of immunity achieved by many of the horses in both the Toowoomba and Ipswich precincts."

Tuttle said the final 200 thoroughbreds in the region yet to receive the first round of inoculations would be completed this weekend.

"By Sunday we would have inoculated about 7,000 in south-east Queensland," he said.

Meanwhile, Tuttle announced the second stage of vaccinations against horse flu would commence 28 days after the first round of inoculations.

Tuttle said QRL would seek approval from the Department of Primary Industries to allow co-mingling of horses on and from Monday, November 12.

"This means that many of the horses from precincts such as Hendra and Deagon will be capable of mixing with horses from precincts such as the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast," he said.

© AAP 2010 Published 12/10/07