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Bit Of A Yarn

DNA tests to determine his best race distance


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This article was in a recent New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing mail out, anyone share insight into this sort of thing? :)

 

Snow Patrol’s staying days on ice Snow Patrol’s (NZ) (Contributer) days of being tried as a stayer are over with genetic testing confining the Gr.2 Autumn Stakes (1400m) winner to sprinting trips. Co-trainer Michael Kent Junior said the stable’s disappointment in Snow Patrol’s latest run in March when well beaten in the Gr.2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) was eased following a genetic test of his probable preference for shorter trips. “He is by Contributer and we were hopeful that he would get 2000m,” Kent Jnr explained. “We did one of those DNA tests to determine his best race distance and it’s proven what we were suspicious of, and that he’s actually genetically proven to be a sprinter-miler as he came back as a CC. “Often it’s obvious, you would never test horses like Profiteer, you just know those types of horses to be flying machines. “But those middle ones, like Snow Patrol. Being by Contributer, you hope he’d get 2000 metres but there you go, he’s best being over shorter distances. “Many times it (the DNA test) will tell you exactly what you thought but sometimes its good information like that and worthwhile doing.” Snow Patrol is being readied for the G3 Fred Best Stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm next Saturday, where he will be ridden by Blake Shinn

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Interesting using a traditional dosage analysis Snow Patrol has a DI 0.82 and CD 0.1.  Those figures indicate it should comfortably get a middle distance race.

What does the DNA test use as a reference database?  Does it determine the relative contribution of the sire and mare?  

I gather it tests for the Speed Gene but how accurate is it?

I suspect it is a bit gimmicky.  We all know of horses that could run 2000m and run 10.5.

https://equinecode.com/en/product/kit-thoroughbred-best-race-distance

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https://www.plusvital.com/products/speed-gene-test

Speed Gene Test

The Speed Gene Test has been used by trainers, owners and breeders across the world for over 10 years with many of the leading thoroughbred operations routinely testing all their horses.

The test can be used to:

 

Determine optimum race distance with over 90% accuracy

Increase strike rates and earnings through optimised training and race decisions

Understand precocity, potential sales impact and 2 year old performance

Assist with breeding decisions to produce the preferred type of horse

Product Description

The names of the Speed Gene types – “C:C”, “C:T” and “T:T” – have become familiar across the industry due to the extent of their usage and the recognition of the predictive power of the test.

 

The Speed Gene Test examines the Myostatin gene – a gene responsible for the regulation of muscle development. Multiple published studies by Plusvital researchers and others have shown race-distance aptitude is almost entirely determined by the genetic make-up of this gene.

 

The Speed Gene test determines if your horse is one of 3 types:

 

C:C Best suited to shorter distance races and tend to be more forward – performing better as 2-year-olds and at sales

 

😄 T Most versatile. Best suited to middle distance races as 3-year-old although can perform at shorter distances as 2 year olds.

 

T: T Best suited to staying distances and are later maturing – often being less suited to 2-year-old racing

 

This information can also be used for breeding as a mare or stallion will each pass on one of their letters to the foal. Therefore, knowing the Speed Gene Type of the mare and the stallion allows understanding of what type the resulting foal is likely to be e.g. mating a C:T mare with a C:C stallion will produce C:C foals 50% of the time and C:T foals the other 50% with no chance of producing a T:T foal. (This might be better as an image)

 

Read more published studies

 

How Can I Use The Speed Gene Test For Breeding?

The results of the Speed Gene Test will help breeders to:

 

Assist in the production of more early-maturing or classic types depending on your preference

Increase strike rates for wins and earnings

Increase sales prices and clearance rates by using objective, positive genetic information

Use The Speed Gene Test information when matching mares and stallions to produce more of your desired type on a consistent basis. The mare and stallion each pass on one copy of their genetic marker (i.e. ‘C’ or ’T’) to the foal, with a C:T horse being equally likely to pass on a ‘C’ or ’T’.

 

What’s Your Type?

Each genetic type has equal potential to be an elite racehorse, but they get there in very different ways:

 

C:Cs tend to be earlier maturing and are better suited to the shorter two-year-old distances with higher strike rates and earnings at this age.

 

See how C:C Horses In Training perform by age across each region:

 

Europe | Australia/New Zealand | USA

 

C:Ts are the most versatile type; they can perform well over shorter distances as two-year-olds and then progress to run over middle distances as three-year-olds and beyond. Therefore, this type has the highest earning potential.

See how C:T Horses In Training perform by age across each region:

 

Europe | Australia/New Zealand | USA

 

T:Ts tend to be later maturing and are less suited to two-year-old racing. However, they develop as three-year-olds and have equal lifetime earning potential to C:C types.

See how T:T Horses In Training perform by age across each region:

 

Europe | Australia/New Zealand | USA

 

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What the pros are saying

 

“Having done a genetic test, its implications have opened my eyes into thinking about what the optimum distance of a horse could be and how it could contradict the normal assumptions that might be based on pedigree”

 

“We do a DNA test on all our horses and he came up a T:T long, which is an extreme distance horse, so before we raced him we knew he was a horse with the genetic potential to run 3,200+ metres. That has always been at the back of our mind.”

Danny O'Brien

Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Danny O’Brien on genetically testing Vow and Declare with the Plusvital Racing Genepak, including the Speed Gene Test

 

“Anyone breeding horses who doesn’t know the genetic make-up of his mares is throwing caution to the wind. To me, Plusvital’s Speed Gene Test is an absolute necessity.”

 

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