Horse racing is a big focal point and last week the company launched its ground breaking racing range. This was unveiled in a grand presentation at the home of racing, Newmarket on Monday 30 January. Eleanore Kelly attended the launch to find out exactly what is in store.
Racehorses and those destined for the sport largely live on high cereal diets to support their workload and development. Just as a human elite athlete would work with a nutritionist to develop the optimum diet, trainers and breeders of racehorses appreciate just how vital a role nutrition plays.
This brand new racing range focuses on providing a nutritional advantage to give them a winning edge. The Dodson and Horrell team have worked with vets, nutritionists using extensive research material and statistics and they have also consulted and involved the trainers and breeders themselves.
Seven of the new products were showcased during the event in an interactive feed station, including:
In the Racing Classic Range – Racehorse Cubes and Microfeed, both of which have had reformulations to improve performance
In the Racing Plus Range – Racepower Cubes 10%, 14%, Racepower Muesli 14%, Regener8 and Starter Cubes.
Two revolutionary fibre based feeds will be introduced later this year:
· Fibre Fusion
· Fibre Performance
Dodson & Horrell hosted a lecture in conjunction with Newmarket Equine Hospital (NEH) addressing Developmental Orthopaedic Disease in the growing horse and the importance of nutrition in bone development. Both William Barker, a leading Orthopaedic veterinary surgeon and Dodson & Horrell’s Head of Nutrition, Catherine Rudenko gave their fascinating insight in to nurturing and feeding the developing horse.
William explained that OCD is particularly common in race and sport horses and in the majority of cases comes down to four factors:
· Genetics
· Exercise – too much or too little
· Growth rate – problems created by young horses growing too quickly
· Dietary imbalances – calorie over load or vitamin deficiency
Obviously genetics is largely out of our control but perhaps as we see the prevalence of OCD in certain bloodlines we might be encouraged to avoid them. In the case of exercise, diet and to a great extent growth rate, this is something both breeders and trainers can regulate to a great extent.
Hormonal influences and mechanical trauma can also result in OCD and bone injuries but both William and Catherine argued that hormonal imbalance can be caused by incorrect or over feeding just as bone density can be improved vastly with the right feeding and exercise programmes.
After this fascinating insight from the experts, we were then lucky enough to join Dodson & Horrell’s CEO Sam Horrell, Catherine Rudenko and ITV Racing presenter Oli Bell in the sales ring at Tattersalls to introduce this cutting edge new racing range followed by champagne and canapes in the historic Tattersalls building. Other guests included racing trainers and stud representatives, some of whom participated in the trials. We heard all about the new generation at Dodson & Horrell who are spearheading research and development, culminating in the introduction of this new range.
Catherine commented:
“We are extremely passionate about these new racing feeds, they are the direct result of extensive scientific research in collaboration with a number of trainers. The results speak for themselves. Today and this evening was our opportunity to speak frankly with the racing industry about what we have been working on over the past 12 months and how the industry has shaped our new offering. The team and I enjoyed meeting everyone during the day and to launch it here at Tattersalls, an iconic pillar of the racing industry has been a privilege. Dodson & Horrell will remain committed to improving equine nutrition for the racing industry – our aim is to #feedtowin.”
