Are Racehorses Improving, Part One-- Track Speed

[Mall]

I read about 3 weeks or so ago that something along these lines will be done soon by a group of scientists headed by a recognized expert in genetics. Their basic premise is that they will be able to use genetic testing after the horse is born to determine if the horse has the genes which produce desirable qualities in Tbreds. Unfortunately, my memory of the article & where I saw it are very vague. I\'m pretty sure there are already a few cos. in the business of doing similar kinds of testing in connection with 2 yr old sales, & the MIT Engr I\'ve mentioned as being involved in the construction of Tapeta got a patent 25 yrs ago on a \"method of assessing performance potential of a quadruped by determining the timing of successive making and breaking of ground contact by the legs during the stride and the swing time of a leg of the quadruped while in a high-speed gait.\" To what extent any of these outfits have any records which would help in the kind of comparison under consideration is something I do not know.

[TGJB]

Now all they have to do is dig up Citation, get him back in training, and start measuring.

Speaking of dead horses-- a friend of mine gave out the trophy for one of the BC races, along with Allison Janney of the West Wing. She told him, \"I haven\'t been to a racetrack since I was a kid. I used to go with my grandfather. He used to own a horse. I think its name was Ruffian, or something like that.\"

Oh.

Mall,

I saw a TV show on that very subject.  It was very interesting, but I can\'t recall too many details beyond your summary.

[jbelfior]

TGJB---

Can you imagine. Most of us on this post would die to have ANY kind of connection to a legend such as RUFFIAN and this bimbo \"thinks its name was Ruffian.\"....ugh!!!!


Good Luck,
Joe B.

[TGJB]

In her defense, I have to say she was just a kid then, and she is a great actress. Not a horseplayer obviously, but you can\'t have everything.