IN THIS ISSUE -

John Gilmore portrays French trainer Stephane Wattel, who only came into racing after his school days had ended and had never even ridden a horse before.

TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter

Lissa Oliver talks to David Cottin about Easysland’s Cross Country Chase success, the first Cheltenham Festival win of his training career.

Girth development - what's being done to adapt this key piece of tack

Dr. Russell Mackechnie-Guire shows how girths have been scientifically proven to have an impact on performance. Groundbreaking research has revealed the effect girths can have on the locomotion of the galloping racehorse.

Substance abuse in racing

Lissa Oliver investigates the effects of substance abuse and secondary knock-on effects for the racing industry due to the risk of cross-contamination. Alcohol and drug dependency has been a recognised aspect of the racing world but is becoming more of an issue due to the introduction of testing and more awareness of underlying causes and tragic consequences.

Nutrition - “bon appétit” - maintaining appetite throughout the season

Establishing what a normal appetite looks like, Catherine Rudenko examines ways to encourage and maintain appetite throughout a season. The best planned feeding program in the world is of no use if the horse simply does not eat as required to sustain performance.

Professional development for trainers

Lissa Oliver investigates if we should fear or embrace continuing professional development. CPD is mandatory in many professions. Just how do our industry professionals continue to learn?

How PET scanning reduces catastrophic fractures

Dr. Mathieu Spriet updates us on the installation of a PET scanner at Santa Anita Park, the iconic Southern California racetrack, currently under public and political pressure due to a high number of horse fatalities. PET is the latest advance in equine imaging specifically designed to image horse legs.

Captivating the next generation of racehorse owners

Lissa Oliver investigates ways of captivating the younger age group as the next generation of racehorse owners and why only golf has an older average television audience age. Horse racing does nothing to engender a rift between young and old.

Outlook for stem cell therapy role in tendon regeneration

Debbie Guest is looking into the different treatments for horse tendon injuries that have been tested over the years and why currently none of them have resulted in significant improvements.

News from the European Mediterranean Horseracing Federation

Dr. Paull Khan reports on the Asian Racing Conference in Cape Town, the concept of stewarding from a remote ‘bunker’ and the Saudi Cup experience.

Staying power - is the French staying race division running out of steam?

John Gilmore fills us in on one of the potential reasons why the French staying race division is tiring down and that is the lack of quality middle distance horses being trained in France over the past few years.

Thoroughbred Tales

Sally Ann Grassick explains what is behind her Thoroughbred Tales concept.

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