COULD CLONING BECOME LEGAL IN RACING?

It sounds crazy, it really does. But it’s already happening in other horse sports; it has been legal for clones to participate since 2012.  It’s almost commonplace in Argentine Polo. But horse racing is a very different story. Technically you could clone your racehorse if you wanted to (if you have a spare £85,000 lying around), but the clone nor any of its offspring would be allowed to race. One of the biggest appeals of cloning is the fact that any gelding, when cloned, will be born as a stallion. Therefore, if it was allowed, fantastic geldings such as Galopin Des Champs and Constitution Hill could pass their genes onto the next generation of racehorses.

Honestly, it’s probably not going to happen any time soon, if ever. There are numerous political and ethical issues, and this is an industry which has yet to allow embryo transfer or AI (no, not that kind of AI – artificial insemination). So as much as I would like to see a bunch of Frankel clones duke it out or the progeny of Red Rum (or Red Rum himself for that matter) take on the Grand National, I think the reality may be a bit more complex.

For one, despite being genetically identical, there is no guarantee that the clone will be as successful as the original.

Secondly, it would change the entire breeding industry, whether for better or worse is certainly debatable. Not to mention the possible public backlash.

So, whilst it is interesting to consider, it doesn’t seem like racing will follow in the footsteps of other equestrian sports. 

written by Gabrielle Murray