REC was established as a single-man practice in 1951 by Dr Percy Sykes. Percy introduced not only his great clinical acumen into equine practice in the Sydney area, but also made the use of the stomach tube, standing castration and the application of laboratory aids in race horses commonplace. The one-man practice was forced to expand to service a rapidly growing clientele.
The practice grew quickly in the 1960's, commencing with stabling a laboratory. Percy was a world pioneer in the use of blood samples as a training aid for racehorses. In the 1970's the practice established itself further with a purpose built hospital at Church Lane, Randwick. The team had grown to 12 veterinarians who now covered the entire city and some provincial tracks, four stud farms on the perimeter of the metropolitan area and a large number of spelling farms.
The practice always maintained itself on the cutting edge of diagnostic technology, being amongst the first to introduce endoscopy, ultrasonography, xero-radiography and arthroscopy when these techniques became available.
By 1988 the practice had outgrown the original site and a purpose-built hospital and clinic was erected on the periphery of the William Inglis and Sons sales complex in Randwick. P.E. Sykes and Partners had now become Randwick Equine Centre, comprising a facility offering two surgical suites and an accredited nuclear medicine facility together with over 27 loose boxes. In conjunction, a further building with office space and a purpose-built laboratory was purchased.
In the 1990's the clinic had come to encompass not only the latest equipment but also expertise of the highest levels, with specialists in medicine, surgery and anaesthesia joining the practice. An internship programme was established and has proven invaluable in training young equine veterinarians in a hospital environment.
REC continued to flourish over the next 30 years with increasing numbers of support staff and veterinarians with an ever expanding range of experience and specialities, as well as an enlarging referral base in both medicine and surgery. The practice entered the latest era with the introduction of laser surgery, laparoscopy, ultrasound assisted surgical procedures and the advancement of arthroscopy (key hole surgery) beyond the common joints. In 2020 construction of a brand new hospital commenced on 5 acres at Horsley Park, and in February 2021 the hospital was offically opened as the REC Specialist Equine Centre. Our facilities had expanded to include multiple digital radiography units, computed radiography, ultrasonography (including echocardiography), endoscopy (including high speed video-endoscopy of the upper airway), nuclear scintigraphy and ECG, with a computed tomography (CT) unit coming soon. Modern innovative regenerative medicine techniques such as stem cell therapy, platelet rich plasma (PRP) and IRAP (interleukin receptor antagonist protein) intra-articular therapy have been welcomed, and we look forward to embrace new technologies as they are developed in the coming years.