Tom Callaghan of the TBA has managed to organise the leading scientist in Equine breeding genetics to be in KZN, at the Nottingham Road Hotel on the 9th January, from 12-2pm for a presentation to the breeders.
Dr Emmeline Hill of Equinome has delivered seminars to a number of Thoroughbred Breeders Associations – Irish TBA, TBA UK, TB Victoria Australia, Hunter Valley TBA Australia and a number in the USA.
Tom Callaghan is excited to have Emmeline here to share her expertise with us.
Equinome is a world-leading equine genetics company, established in 2009 as a result of groundbreaking research at University College Dublin, Ireland, led by company co-founder, Dr Emmeline Hill, in partnership with Irish racehorse trainer Mr Jim Bolger.
In 2010, Equinome researchers published the world’s first scientific paper describing a gene related to a specific athletic trait in the Thoroughbred horse. This has been called ‘The Speed Gene’. In the laboratory, Equinome scientists can read the genetic code for this gene and make a prediction about a horse’s optimum racing distance. Using the Equinome Speed Gene Test, owners and breeders can identify the suitability of an individual to racing over short, middle or middle-to-long distances. Importantly for breeding, the variant of the gene that is likely to be passed on to progeny can be definitively known. Therefore, armed with this information more precise selection and breeding decisions can be made to maximise the genetic potential and commercial value of each horse. Racehorse owners and trainers are also using the test to optimise purchasing and training decisions and better target suitable races for their horses.
More recently, Equinome scientists have characterised a large panel of genes that have been identified as being critical to elite racing performance. Using the Equinome Elite Performance Test, owners can now use genetic information to identify individual Thoroughbred horses with the greatest genetic potential for racecourse success.
Equinome has major clients in Ireland, UK, France, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Dubai. Our clients are using the tests as a means to reducing the risk of future investments by ensuring that they produce or purchase more of the types of horse suitable to their market or to their breeding objectives. In Australia, some of the major stallion farms are now advertising the genetic type of their stallions to attract the most suitable mares, and increase the stallions breeding prospects (see: www.widden.com)
Equinome researchers have published more scientific papers on Thoroughbred exercise genomics than any other research group worldwide. Through its associations with top-class breeders and trainers, Equinome has access to large numbers of elite horses at various stages of training and competition that provide subjects for its on-going research programme.
For more info: www.equinome.com
