Filed under: Horse Racing The racehorse Native Dancer , who won the Preakness and Belmont in 1953, was so successful after being put out to stud that thousands of thoroughbreds share him as a common ancestor. But since two of those thoroughbreds were Barbaro and Eight Belles , some horse racing observers are wondering whether Native Dancer is passing down a genetic predisposition to break down. Jon Weinbach writes in the Wall Street Journal : Both Barbaro and Eight Belles were descendants of Native Dancer, a 1950s thoroughbred whose racing career was cut short by leg injuries. This bloodline has an excellent track record of producing champions but has been cited by breeders and equine experts for producing fragile horses. "The breed is getting weaker because we're breeding all the same relatives," says Kinney Hounshell, a bloodstock agent in Lexington. "Nobody is thinking about the ultimate price we're going to pay." Genetics is complex science, and it would be far too simplistic to pin the injuries of Barbaro and Eight Belles on genes inherited from Native Dancer. There is no question, however, that breeders have a financial incentive to favor horses who can win races at a young age over horses who can have long and healthy lives. And for all the talk of reforming horse racing, I'm not sure anything can be done about that. Permalink | Email this | Comments ...
Anytime
Filed under: Horse Racing The racehorse Native Dancer , who won the Preakness and Belmont in 1953, was so successful after being put out to stud that thousands of thoroughbreds share him as a common ancestor. But since two of those thoroughbreds were Barbaro and Eight Belles , some horse racing observers are wondering whether Native Dancer is passing down a genetic predisposition to break down. Jon Weinbach writes in the Wall Street Journal : Both Barbaro and Eight Belles were descendants of Native Dancer, a 1950s thoroughbred whose racing career was cut short by leg injuries. This bloodline has an excellent track record of producing champions but has been cited by breeders and equine experts for producing fragile horses. "The breed is getting weaker because we're breeding all the same relatives," says Kinney Hounshell, a bloodstock agent in Lexington. "Nobody is thinking about the ultimate price we're going to pay." Genetics is complex science, and it would be far too simplistic to pin the injuries of Barbaro and Eight Belles on genes inherited from Native Dancer. There is no question, however, that breeders have a financial incentive to favor horses who can win races at a young age over horses who can have long and healthy lives. And for all the talk of reforming horse racing, I'm not sure anything can be done about that. Permalink | Email this | Comments ...