SCIENTISTS from Asia, Europe, North America, and the Irish equine science company Plusvital compared the genomes of Thoroughbred, Arabian and Mongolian racehorses to horses bred for other sports and leisure, and were able to pinpoint a set of genes that play a significant role in muscle, metabolism and neurobiology. These genes were found to be clearly different in racing horses, and were common to all racing breeds compared to those animals from non-racing breeds.

“Since the discovery of the ‘Speed Gene’ in 2009, we have generated genetic data for thousands of thoroughbreds and horses from other breeds,” said University College Dublin Professor Emmeline Hill, lead scientist on the project and Chief Science Officer at Plusvital.