Supplied by The Jockey Club
The decision to replace blood-typing with DNA typing for parentage verification, starting with the foal crop of the year 2001, is a major step in The Jockey Club's ongoing dedication to utilizing the benefits of modern technology in the best interests of the Thorougbred.
Behind the decision lie two determining factors: continuing improvement in the integrity of The American Stud Book, and cost-saving simplification of the registration process with the use of mane hair roots.
"When we implemented blood-typing as a requirement of registration in The American Stud Book it was a major advance," said Jockey Club vice-president of registration services, Roger Shook. "But the 97 percent efficacy of parentage verification using blood-typing is as good as that test can achieve, while DNA typing is a maturing technology which already surpasses blood with a parentage verification efficacy of 99-plus percent."
The stability and ease of collecting the sample needed for DNA typing is where the cost savings come in. More often than not, a veterinarian is called in to draw blood. Blood samples are subject to spoilage which usually means sending them to the laboratory by overnight express mail. Even then, the samples are sometimes untestable.
By comparison, the DNA test uses hair pulled from the horse's mane, which is something anyone who's been around horses knows how to do. The sample can be put in an ordinary envelope and mailed first class without any fear of spoilage. And, providing the hair sample includes roots, it will virtually always be testable.
Shook believes the cost savings will be substantial in most cases. "We estimate the indirect cost of the blood-typing process to most owners and breeders averages $31. (US)," he said. "And it can go as high as $55(US) in some cases."
As to the sampling kits, only a slight adjustment was made to the original design based on experience and input from owners and breeders, and it couldn't be much easier to use.
But The Jockey Club still offers some "Do's" and "Don'ts" to keep in mind:
Identification Certificates
- Do sign the Identity Certificate and take four photos just as you would when registering a foal.
- Do write down the tattoo number or, if it's difficult to read, write down what you think it is.
- Do clean the mane comb thoroughly before pulling the mane.
- Do grasp the mane close to the neck to help ensure you get the roots.
- Do seal the hair sample to the form securely, making sure the label sticks down.
- Don't use scissors.
- Don't try to pull a sample if the mane is wet.
"The really important thing is a good hair root sample," said Shook. "If that ends up in the lab, attached to the form which is bar-coded for the right horse; and the identification Certificate with photos ends up in our office . . . that's all there is to it. No tubes. No special handling. It's as easy as mailing a letter."
If there's one setback to the change it's the need to re-type all breeding stock. Blood types and DNA types are not interchangeable. But even here technology is making the process as easy as possible for breeders. For a number of years the three laboratories used by The Jockey Club - University of California at Davis, the University of Kentucky; and Maxxam Equitest in Toronto - have retained frozen blood samples of the horses they have typed for parentage verification. These samples, in most cases, can themselves be DNA-typed. That process is under way and will continue through year's end.
At present all living stallions registered on a 1999 Report of Mares Bred (RMB) have been re-typed, most from frozen samples and approximately 2,000 from mane hair roots. A large number of mares from 1999 RMB's, selected according to the assessed likelihood of them having a foal in 2001, have also been re-typed from frozen samples. As of October 15, 2000, more than 13,000 stallions and mares have been re-typed.
In early October, after RMB's for 2000 were received and analyzed, sampling kits were sent out for 188 stallions not previously DNA-typed and listed on a 2000 RMD.
As a result of this carefully phased-in program, The Jockey Club expects all of the new crop's sires and a majority of dams to be DNA-typed by the time foals start hitting the ground in 2001. Most importantly, there are no fees attached to the re-typing of breeding stock.
In the meantime, owners and breeders don't have to do anything, until they actually receive a sampling kit. If they want to know the status of their breeding stock in regards to DNA testing, they can find it quickly and easily through the free online Internet service, Jockey Club Interactive, by going to the Interactive Home Page (through www.registry.jockeyclub.com), clicking on "Online Customer Service", and following the instructions.
Although the switch to DNA-typing by The Jockey Club is a first for the Thoroughbred, the technology has been in use by other breed registries in North America for some time. The American Quarter Horse Association, the American Paint Horse Association and the United States Trotting Association have all adopted DNA-typing for parentage verification.
On the international front, the Thoroughbred stud books of England, Ireland, France, Australia and Japan all have plans to implement the technology.
"We're pleased and excited to be in the vanguard of again adapting new technology to the service of the breed and the Thoroughbred breeding industry," concluded Shook. "It continues to be one of our basic goals."
Financial Implications for Owners & Breeders
In order to minimize the financial burden on owners and breeders by the need to re-type all breeding stock, The Jockey Club will underwrite all laboratory costs for the DNA typing of sires and dams of foals of the year 2001 and thereafter.
To assist in recouping these costs, registration fees have been increased by $25. In most cases this amount will be offset by the indirect cost savings to owners and breeders intrinsic to the DNA sample collection process. "Worst Case" assessment of these
costs are:
- Veterinary sampling fee (60% of cases) $15
- Veterinary Trip Charge (60% of cases) $25
- Overnight Mail (20% of cases) $15 TOTAL $55
Other savings applicable in special cases include: Re-sampling Mare (1% of cases); and Re-sampling Foal (6% of cases).
Averaged out over a foal crop of 36,500 (as projected for the foal crop of the year 2000), these savings will mean a reduction in the indirect costs to the Thoroughbred breeding industry for foal registration of more than $1.1 Million, or an average of $31 per registered foal.
