Page 16 - Eclipse - Autumn 2015
P. 16
General news
The RVC on the big screen
Professor Roger Smith on the red carpet
Professor Roger Smith, orthopaedic surgeon at the RVC’s Equine Hospital, was on the red carpet in April for the lm premiere of Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance.
Dark Horse (winner of the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival) is a documentary about the unlikely rise of a homebred racehorse who went on to achieve remarkable things.
Barmaid Jan Vokes, decided on a whim to breed herself a racehorse. Along with her husband, Brian, and pub regular Howard, they bought a £300 thoroughbred mare and paired her with an ageing stallion. The resultant foal was raised on their allotment in a village in one of the poorest valleys in Wales. They named him Dream Alliance after the 23 friends from the village that Jan cajoled into a forming a syndicate with each paying £10 a week to cover his training fees with Philip Hobbs.
To the astonishment of the racing elite, Dream Alliance became an unlikely champion. He won the Perth Gold Cup in 2007
and nished a brilliant second in the Hennessy Gold Cup the same year at Newbury. The dream continued until, in 2008 at a handicap hurdle race at Aintree, he suffered a potentially career ending tendon injury. Dream had struck into himself; a rear hoof had cut through the back of his front leg, slicing a tendon, an injury so severe that most horses would have been put down on the course.
By this time Dream Alliance was a local hero and genuine source of hope and inspiration in the valley, and his owners refused to give up on him. After initial surgery at the Liverpool Veterinary School, the horse was referred by vet, Phil Brown, to Professor Smith at the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø for revolutionary stem cell therapy.
Professor Roger Smith, who originally developed innovative stem cell therapy for equine tendon injuries at the RVC, performed keyhole surgery on his tendon and implanted the stem cells.
18 months later, after one comeback race, Dream Alliance was entered into the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow. The odds were long: 60-1 at Coral, but Dream Alliance won. His fantastic victory in this race made the national news.
Today Dream Alliance lives in happy retirement in Somerset with the stable girl from Hobbs’s yard who was chie y responsible for his care.
Keep your eyes open for a very brief cameo from Professor Smith!
The RVC in the press
News from The RVC reaches far- ung corners of the world, via newspapers, broadcasters and specialist scienti c and animal-focused publications.
From research breakthroughs in animal and human health to cutting-edge life-saving treatment in the animal hospitals, news is rapidly disseminated around the world. Stories often begin in a daily newspaper or with the BBC before being picked up by a variety of news outlets internationally.
The College’s communications team works closely with
journalists in national newspapers, scienti c journals and species-centred publications to ensure news reaches as many readers as possible. RVC events, such as fundraising endeavours, are also often reported by local press close to our campuses.
The expertise of RVC researchers and clinicians is often sought by broadcasters and print journalists, as well as producers of natural history or companion animal documentaries. This gives the College exciting opportunities to share the knowledge it gathers with the wider world, helping to inspire the next generation of vets, scientists, veterinary nurses and conservationists.
Keep your eyes on the press over the coming months to learn more about the work of the RVC.
