Genetic Testing Debate A Draw At TBA Seminar

–Newmarket, UK.

The first of two annual seminars staged by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) was held at Tattersalls on Thursday, with a capacity crowd of breeders, stud managers and vets gathered for discussion on a range of topics from genetic testing to the threat from infectious diseases and current breeding trends.

'We Can't Hold Back The Revolution'
Unsurprisingly, the lengthiest question-and-answer session was sparked by the very topical issue of genetic testing.

The withdrawal of QIPCO 2,000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) from this year's Investec Derby following his 'speed gene' test, which showed him to be a C:C type, or sprinter, has ensured that this subject has been hotly debated by breeders and racing fans alike in recent weeks. The TBA had already been considering the implications of wider-spread use of such testing and its potential impact on its members and, at the start of the year, launched a genetic testing review. The panel is being chaired by Dr Peter Webbon, whose various roles within the racing and veterinary world include having been Chief Executive of the Animal Health Trust, Veterinary Director of the Jockey Club and Chief Executive of the Horseracing Regulatory Authority.

Dr Webbon's presentation, entitled 'Equine Genetics – Fact or Fiction' focused on the importance of using genetic testing to reduce the levels of injury and disease.

“This is clearly the route we need to be taking,” he said. “Genetic testing can contribute to breeding management, training and racing decisions. We've been breeding selectively for 300 years––for speed, strength, conformation, jumping ability, etc., but it's important not to neglect durability, temperament and susceptibility to disease and injury when planning matings. Performance is heritable but it depends on a number of factors, such as uterine environment, nutrition, training regime, and susceptibility to injury, among others.”

He also outlined how giving consideration to soundness and durability when breeding could be advantageous in helping to fulfil the demands of the British racing fixture list, not by breeding more horses but by ensuring that those bred are physically able to race more frequently and for longer.

“The multiple advantages could be fewer injuries on the racecourse and in training, more horses fulfilling their potential, and higher-profile horses running more often, which helps with public perception and engagement,” he added.

“We should abandon the notion of trying to breed faster horses but try to produce sounder horses who can run more often and could even be faster because they are sounder.”

Dr Webbon was followed by Prof Max Rothschild, a geneticist from Iowa State University, who has conducted extensive research in the livestock industries and compared lessons learned from selective breeding in pigs and cattle––for such areas as milk yield, birthweight and marbling––to potential use in racehorses.

“Good horse breeders understand pedigrees and conformation and that is effectively genetics,” he said. “Horses have 25,000 genes and the industry is currently shaken up about a test for one gene.”

Prof Rothschild admitted to scepticism as to the claims by some genetic testing companies, adding, “My single biggest concern about genomic company results is that too few animals are being tested in order for them to claim their results are as good as they say they are. Associations of single genes aren't always what they seem. The horse is an athlete and is affected by many outside influences––trainers, jockeys, tracks, environment all contribute. But genetics and genomics have a role to play – we can't hold back the revolution.”

Prof Rothschild concluded his talk by calling for the Thoroughbred breeding industry to form an advisory group, including geneticists and breeders, so that information could be shared publicly.

“There must be unbiased education of breeders,” he stated.

Breeding trends
The TBA's Deputy Chairman Paul Greeves is a self-confessed statistics fanatic, but given his lengthy spell as Stud Book Director at Weatherbys, it could be considered something of an occupational hazard.

Greeves's annual updates on the size of foal crops are always informative and his presentation of the latest complete figures for 2015 point to a steady uplift in both foal numbers and coverings.

“Following the collapse in 2008, there's been stabilisation and a little bit of an increase,” he explained.

Once the 2016 foal crop is properly collated, we can expect to see another small rise, with 5% more mares having been covered in Ireland last year, and 3% in Britain. Since 2008, however, the number of registered broodmares has decreased by 33% in Ireland and 18.5% in Britain.

Ireland has always been the largest producer of foals within the European countries but since 2010, France has overtaken Britain as the second-biggest producer, with France's 2014 crop standing at 4,531 foals to Britain's 4,328.

Worldwide, the USA remains the major producer of Thoroughbreds, followed by Australia, Argentina and Ireland, but with America and Europe having suffered the biggest declines in foal numbers since the global financial crisis, the number of foals bred internationally has fallen by 24%, down from 121,325 in 2008 to 92,328 in 2014.

The most significant decline in Ireland has been in the number of horses in training, which from 2008 to 2015 fell from 6,815 to 4,0126––a drop of 41%. Over the same period in Britain an 8.5% decline was felt, to 14,958 horses in training last year. Among those racing in Britain, 46% were bred in the country, while 44% hail from Ireland. This latter figure has risen from 39% in 2008, while the number of US-bred imports has halved during that time from 7% to 3.5%.

“It would appear that Irish horses have filled the void in reduction of American-breds,” said Greeves. “What I found most interesting, however, is that despite a significant drop in production of foals since 2008, there has been a 7% increase in the number of foals and yearlings offered for sale.”

In 2008, that combined figure for Britain and Ireland was 7,319, which rose to 7,809 in 2014.

Threat of infectious diseases
The afternoon session dealt with the risk to the Thoroughbred industry presented by infectious diseases––both exotic diseases such as African Horse Sickness, Dourine and Glanders, and endemic diseases such as Strangles and the different strains of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV).

Following the National Stud's temporary closure in February through a positive test for the neurological strain of EHV on a filly arriving from France, the British foaling season was blighted by a number of EHV abortion cases on farms in Hertfordshire, Sussex and Suffolk.

Dr Richard Newton, the Animal Health Trust's Head of Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance, outlined how it is believed that up to 80% of the horse population carry the herpes virus in a dormant form, warning that stress, through such things as travel or a change of environment, can trigger an outbreak.

“Horses can spontaneously reactivate EHV from a latent state so there is never a zero risk,” he said.

Nowhere has this been more harshly felt in 2016 than at Newsells Park Stud, one of Britain's leading breeding operations with such graduates as Legatissimo (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and Secret Gesture (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) to its name, which tragically lost 10 foals through the abortion virus this spring.

The stud's General Manager Julian Dollar said, “I wanted to share what happened at our farm in order that what was a dreadful situation for us might help other breeders in the future.”

The first abortion, which took place on Feb. 22 from a mare who had been with a closed group of the same eight mares since the previous September, led to three more mares from that group losing their foals. The first mare lost her foal within hours of being brought in from the paddock to an American barn, in which the virus then affected a further six mares.

“We isolated the barn with strict adherence to the HBLB Codes of Practice. You could follow the progress down the barn very clearly. Only one mare in the barn produced a live healthy foal. All the mares had been vaccinated for EHV-1 and EHV-4. We found that being left outside gave them a fighting chance,” said Dollar.

“We engaged in open communication to stallion managers and the industry, which enabled us to recommence breeding after 28 days despite an ongoing outbreak in an isolated facility. The size and range of Newsells Park Stud meant that we could isolate barns with extremely stringent biosecurity measures, including completely separate teams of staff.”

Of extra concern to the stud vets in Britain has been a shortage of the licenced EHV vaccine this year, with Newells Park going to the lengths of importing the Pneumobort K vaccine from America on a temporary licence.

Codes of Practice App
A technological boost to stud farmers and trainers alike in the coming months will be the launch of a new smartphone app for the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and National Trainers' Federation (NTF) Codes of Practice, which is free for all breeders, stable and stud staff, trainers and vets.

Named Equibiosafe and funded by the HBLB, the app will be available from the end of July and will include guidelines on a range of conditions, such as EHV, ringworm, and piroplasmosis, as well as a vaccine calculator.

Outlining its uses, Prof Celia Marr of Rossdales Equine Hospital said, “App updates can be issued very quickly in the face of new threats, and it includes links to the BHA and AHT websites.”