Scientists Trace 'Speed Gene' to Single Horse

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - Scientists believe they have a winner when tracing back the origin of the "speed gene" in Thoroughbred racehorses.

The University College Dublin traced the gene back to a British mare that lived about three centuries ago in the United Kingdom, the school stated .

To find the origin of the "speed gene," C type myostatin gene variant, researchers analyzed DNA from hundreds of horses including the skeletal remains of 12 Thoroughbred stallions born between 1764 and 1930. There were also 330 elite performing modern Thoroughbreds, 40 donkeys and two zebras.

Modern variants were traced back to a legendary mare named Nearctic, which lived between 1954-1973. The variant branched out to his son Northern Dancer, which LiveScience reported was the most-bred stallion of modern times.

Researcher Emmeline Hill, a genomics scientist at the college, and her team didn't find the gene in horse cousins such as zebras. Ancestral wild horses were more likely to have the T gene variant rather than the C variant, the T being more common in horses with greater stamina rather than speed.

Searching through thoroughbreds was easy, according to LiveScience, because they hadn't been reproduced outside of their breed since 1791 and owners have kept thorough records.

While not narrowing it down to the exact founder, Hill stated in the release that it was a British mare from about 300 years ago when "local British horse types were the preeminent racing horses."

As far as why this specific C variety is so widespread today in thoroughbreds, LiveScience stated it goes back to Northern Dancer's prolific breeding.

The horse, born in 1961, never came in lower than third place and won 14 of his 18 races. He became the era's most in-demand stud horse. One point it cost $1 million to have him breed with a mare.

University College Dublin worked with Equinome Ltd. and the University of Cambridge on the study, published in the scientific journal Nature Communications. Equinome, of which Hill is the co-founder, has developed a test to identify the speed gene in horses.

Hill told LiveScience that the study also shows "the power breeders have to shape the genetic make-up of their horses."