New Zealand-born equine reproduction expert Professor William ‘Twink’ Allen has passed away aged 80 after a short illness.
Allen had been a well-known figure in England’s thoroughbred hub, Newmarket, for many years and is the father of Catherine Dettori, wife of jockey Frankie.
A graduate of veterinary medicine from the University of Sydney, he was a director of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Equine Fertility Unit, a professor at the University of Cambridge and held numerous other research positions. He was awarded a CBE in 2002.
He was particularly known for his work in assisted reproductive technologies, carrying out pioneering methods of embryo recovery and transfer in mares and studies of hormones and ultrasonography.
Allen also regularly advised breeders, once suggesting to Watership Down Stud’s Simon Marsh that he should have the fallopian tubes of broodmare Darara flushed out after she had been barren for four years. She went on to produce the outstanding pair Dar Re Mi and Rewilding.