Gene Mutation: No Performance Effect in Coldblooded Trotters
- Topics: Anatomy & Physiology, Article, Breeding and Reproduction, Breeding Basics, Competition News & Issues, Conditioning, Equine Care Professions, Genetics, Horse Care, Monitoring Exercise Performance, Musculoskeletal System, Sports Medicine, Thoroughbred Racing, Vet and Professional, Veterinary Practice

And that’s good news for an industry in which only 12% of the horses carry both copies of the DMRT3 (Gaitkeeper) gene, said Kim Jäderkvist Fegraeus, PhD, of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences’ Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, in Uppsala.
Most successful Standardbred racehorses are homozygous, or “AA”—meaning they received a copy of the Gaitkeeper gene from both parents, compared to the heterozygous “CA” (only one copy) or “CC” (no copies), Fegraeus said. Coldblooded trotters, however, comprise a minority representation of AA horses.
Coldblooded AA horses in their study did appear to be faster in their early careers, while CC horses had a harder time keeping a clean trot, she said. But the AA horses had fewer starts and raced less frequently than CC and CA horses
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