Anuario Raza Polo Argentino Anuario2018 | Page 240

In Ireland, Japan and the United States, groups of
scientists associated the Myostatin gene with the
distances over which Thoroughbred Racehorses
competed, describing 3 different groups of horses
according to the races in which they had taken part:
Sprinters (s); Millers (m) and Long-Distance (l/d).
They based these results on the analysis of
hundreds of horses of renowned campaigns, and
identified these three groups.
They described Sprinters as being the animals
with the greatest muscular development and
precocity at the start of their training. They stood
out in races of up to 1200 meters.
At the opposite end were the animals of long-
distance genotype, with greater staying power;
less precocious and of lighter muscle build. These
are the long-distance horses which built their
campaigns in races as from 2.000 meters distance.
Millers are functionally closer to this last group,
and are horses that have distinguished themselves
in intermediate races of between 1400 to 2000
meters.
In many countries devoted to racing it is often
seen that when a Thoroughbred Racehorse is
purchased, this test is run so as to become
oriented as to the distance for which it is to be
trained.

Aim:
The study was carried out in order to determine
to which of these three groups the Polo Pony
belongs.
The Sample:
77 animals were included in the test with the
intention that the sample, though small, may have
the greatest possible variety. It was based on Polo
Ponies of proven performance from the Bloodlines
of Alberto P. and Pepe Heguy; La Aguada and
La Dolfina Stud Farms.
In the case of the Heguy ponies, the idea was to
find a more long-dated origin to that of the other
horses, with a very specific phenotype which has
reached great achievements on all polo fields.
Whereas with La Aguada, the main consideration
was that there are more than one player who
play these horses, with different management
characteristics and occupying different positions
on the field. This broadens selection.
The third group was chosen as from the success
that many of these horses have shown during
the last decade, and with a more uniform
characteristic, since they are played by only one
player, A. Cambiaso (Jr).
All the ponies tested were Triple-Crown-playing
Together with Lic. Cecilia Ratti, Dr. Marcela ponies, male and female and some proven
Martínez and Dr. Luciano Miguens (h) of the Thoroughbred Racehorse stallions.
Argentine Rural Association’s Applied Genetics We hereby present some of the cases so that the
laboratory, we have developed a project by which reader may be more familiar with their identification.
we may apply this Test on the Polo Pony.

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