Gene test identifies potential success of racehorses

UCD’s spin-off company Equinome has launched a genetic test that can identify individual thoroughbred horses with the greatest genetic potential for racecourse success.

Given the thoroughbred horse racing and breeding industry is an international, multi-billion euro business, with more than 100,000 foals born every year, the scope for the test is huge.

The company hopes the Equinome Elite Performance Test, will allow thoroughbred horse owners and breeders to increase their chances of successfully identifying those foals and yearlings most likely to perform at the elite level.

The test uses genomics technologies to examine panels of DNA variants that have been identified as being critical to racing performance.

Different sets of genes are used to distinguish between elite performers and poor performers, depending on whether the individual horse is suited to short, middle or long-distance races. This information provides owners and breeders with valuable knowledge about the inherited genetic contribution to the racing ability of their horses.

The test is based on research carried out by Dr Emmeline Hill and her research group at UCD’s School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine. While management and training of thoroughbreds also influence racing outcomes, several scientific studies have demonstrated that a considerable portion of the variation in racing performance is due to genes. Thoroughbred breeders have known this for centuries, as breeding is predicated on the understanding that certain traits are inherited.

Equinome was established in 2009 by Dr Hill in partnership with Jim Bolger, the renowned Irish racehorse trainer and breeder. Headquartered at NovaUCD, the university’s Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre, the company also has laboratory facilities within UCD and at Jim Bolger’s training yard in Kilkenny.

Dr Hill said the test will definitively identify the optimum racing distance for an individual racehorse and evaluate their potential for elite performance at that distance.

“It is well established that there are different metabolic and physiological requirements for short-duration, high-intensity sprint type exercise and longer-duration, more moderate intensity exercise. We have determined that, similarly, the genetic requirements differ for contrasting types of exercise and therefore different sets of genes will contribute to elite performance in each type of thoroughbred. A one-test-fits- all approach doesn’t seem to be appropriate,” she said.

This development follows the launch of the company’s first test, the Equinome Speed Gene Test. It has since secured clients in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Britain, France, Russia and Singapore.