http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/
fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7150251.stm
Published: 2007/12/19 00:22:40 GMT
Racehorse winning secret revealed
The offspring of expensive stallions owe their success more to how they are reared, trained and ridden than good genes, a study has found. Only 10% of a horse's lifetime winnings can be attributed to their bloodline, research in Biology Letters shows.
Edinburgh scientists compared the stud fees, winnings and earnings of more than 4,000 racehorses since 1922. The research was carried out by evolutionary biologists Alastair Wilson and Andrew Rambaut at the University of Edinburgh. ...
"There are good genes out there to be bought but they don't necessarily come with the highest price tag," Dr Alastair Wilson told the BBC News website. "It seems much more likely that people who can afford to pay high stud fees can also afford to manage and train their horses well."
The offspring of expensive stallions did tend to win more over their lifetime, he said, but genes played only a small role. By far the biggest factor was the horse's environment - the way they were trained, the choice of races entered and which jockeys were employed, Dr Wilson added. ...
Full details of the research are published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
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