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Planning to make a purchase at a Thoroughbred sale involves poring over sires, dams, granddams, earnings of these predecessors in prestigious races, and combing through immeasurable facts and stats. The entire process can prove overwhelming, especially for those shopping on a shoestring.

Absolute secrets to success in Thoroughbred breeding and racing have yet to be unearthed. Multiple factors such as training style, nutrition, track surface, and climate all play a role in performance. Recently, a group of veterinary geneticists suggested that specific geographical breeding practices may also influence performance.*

As explained by the researchers, Thoroughbred racehorses compete all over the world, but four major hubs currently exist for elite racing: Europe, North America, Australasia, and Japan. Each of these regions has its own racing elite, and after decades of artificial selection within these hubs, some genetic variation in these geographical regions has developed. These small genetic differences explain, at least in part, why horses from certain sire lines may be super successful in one region but simply average in another.

To explore these hub-specific genetic traits further, researchers applied advanced genetic screening tests, including a technique called composite selection signals analysis. These tests identified a region of DNA on chromosome 14 (ECA14) containing genes that modulate behavior, locomotion, and skeletal muscle physiology and appear to contribute to early two-year-old speed in Australian Thoroughbreds. These genes were not recognized in Thoroughbreds from other hubs. It is possible that breeding practices within other hubs have resulted in selection of unique performance genes in those horses that have yet to be identified.

*Han, H., B.A. McGivney, G. Farries, et al. 2020. Selection in Australian Thoroughbred horses acts on a locus associated with early two-year old speed. PLoS One 15(2):e0227212. 

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