Come see for yourself during the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games September 25 – October 10, 2010 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Stop by the outdoor tradeshow village at the Kentucky Horse Park (booth 202) to visit ViaGen and get the latest information on cloning technology.

ViaGen has also joined forces with Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center (KESMARC) to display some of the industry’s most elite equine athletes and their genetic twins.

On display at KESMARC will be Pan American Games gold-medalist Sapphire alongside his cloned foal Saphir, and two-time AQHA World Racing Champion Tailor Fit and cloned stallion Pure Tailor Fit. The horses will be on display daily to the public from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., however, private tours can be arranged.

Thursday, October 7, Olympic Equestrian Mark Watring will be on site at KESMARC with Sapphire/Saphir answering questions about cloning his gelding and the future plans for Saphir from 10 a.m. – noon and 4 – 6 p.m.

Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center

Located just 4 miles west of Lexington off of Route 60.
258 Shannon Run Road
Versailles, Kentucky

A revolutionary breeding technique could become a powerful weapon in the arsenal to eliminate equine genetic diseases by broadening the gene pool to include the genetics of top performing geldings that are genetically “clean.” 

Since the first equine clone was foaled in 2003, cloning has been recognized as a tool that enables horses that became outstanding competitors after they were gelded to reproduce as stallions. But as scientists continue to unravel the mysteries of genetic diseases that have plagued the horse industry for decades, cloning could also help eradicate them by increasing the number of sires that are “clean” for the lethal recessive genes that carry the disease.

Like financial experts who emphasize the importance of diversification in personal investments, cloning offers a way for breeders to diversify their genetic portfolios.  Although nine equine diseases have already been linked to genetic mutations, researchers expect to identify more.

That makes breeding options and diversification even more important for breeders who not only want to produce horses that are competitive, but also won’t pass along hereditary defects to their offspring. 

“We’re just starting to peel the lid off this thing,” said Blake Russell, vice president of ViaGen, the Austin, Texas-based commercial cloning and gene-banking company that holds the patent for equine cloning. “We all know there are going to be dozens of genetic diseases out there that haven’t been identified yet. As we learn more about genetics, we’re going to find out that lots of things have a genetic root.”

Founder Effect
Hereditary disease has been found in a variety of horses. Few equine breeds are immune.

The list includes hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP), a muscle disorder that can cause tremors or paralysis in Quarter Horses, Paint Horses, and Appaloosas. Another disease, a glycogen storage disorder called polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM), affects Morgans, Belgians, Percherons and Warmbloods, too.

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), a lethal condition that makes foals susceptible to infections, is inherited in Arabians, while recurrent exertional rhabdomyolyssis, or “tying up,” is suspected to be linked genetically to Thoroughbreds.

Scientists have traced some diseases, such as HYPP and hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA), a debilitating condition marked by hyperextensive skin, to a specific sire. In 1992, HYPP was publicly tied to Impressive, the immensely popular American Quarter Horse stallion whose pedigree is the foundation of many halter horses. By May 2008, there had been 366,000 Impressive descendants registered with the AQHA, according to Gary Griffith, who served as executive director of AQHA registration. The report was authored by University of California at Davis geneticist Sharon Spier, D.V.M., and E.P. Hoffman of the Research Center for Genetic Medicine in Washington, D.C. 

In 2004, the western performance horse industry was rocked when HERDA was linked to Poco Bueno, a stallion whose pedigree can be found in many of the world’s top cutting and cow horses.  

HYPP and HERDA are examples of popular sire syndrome, a tendency among breeders to increase their chance of producing winners by crossing mares with proven sires of top performers. While the crosses have resulted in hundreds of champions, the down side is a concentrated gene pool in which negative inherited traits may be amplified over the years.

“Too much breeding to one animal will give the gene pool an extraordinary dose of his genes, and this will include whatever detrimental recessives he may carry, to be uncovered in later generations,” Dr. Spier said.  “This can cause future breed-related genetic disease through what is known as Founder Effect.”

By using genetic tests and reproductive techniques, such as frozen semen, embryo transfer, and cloning wisely, horse owners can effectively breed around a disease and minimize the chance of passing it on. After a genetic test for HYPP became available in 1992, AQHA officially recognized HYPP as a genetic defect and undesirable characteristic. In response to concerns by its members, the world’s largest equine breed registry passed a regulation about HYPP in 1996.

According to Rule 205, foals born in 1998 or afterward that trace back to Impressive have a statement added to their registration certificate that recommends testing for HYPP unless test results that indicate the foal is negative (N/N) for the disease are on file with AQHA.

“AQHA will test any foals that are required to be parentage verified and who trace to Impressive for HYPP prior to registering them,” said Tom Persechino, AQHA senior director of marketing. “This testing will be performed with the same DNA sample submitted to the laboratory for parentage verification.”

AQHA took the regulation one step further in 2007 when it stopped registering foals that test double positive (H/H) for HYPP. An H/H horse, which means it has an HYPP allele from each parent, will pass the gene to its offspring 100 percent of the time.

HYPP is a dominant trait, which means the disease only requires one parent to have and pass on the gene and the disease. Because of this, beginning in 2020, AQHA will not register horses that test N/H for HYPP.  

Getting the ‘look’
Ironically, the gene for some diseases, such as HYPP and HERDA, appear to give competitors an edge. In fact, the majority of halter horses in the winners’ circle trace back to Impressive, so the marketplace is a powerful incentive for horse owners to breed to them.

After the test for HYPP became available, researchers discovered the number of H/H horses had actually increased, according to a study of data submitted to the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at UC-Davis from 1992 to 2006. The number of N/H and N/N horses remained the same, said Dr. Spier, an international expert on HYPP who presented the results at the 2006 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention.

“There has been no decrease in the gene frequency of HYPP,” said Dr. Spier. “Because the gene frequency has not decreased over time, and is higher in elite performance horses successful at halter, this demonstrates that these horses have an advantage in the show ring for the phenotype associated with this disease.”

Successful halter people on the front lines of the industry agree.

“Breeders continue to breed to an Impressive horse because it has more potential to be a better show individual if it’s an N/H horse than if it’s an N/N horse,” said Ted Turner Jr., who has shown 66 AQHA World Champions since he began exhibiting halter horses in the mid-1970s. Turner trains at Turner Bradshaw Ranch in Thackerville, Oklahoma, where he partners with sports broadcaster and four-time Super Bowl quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

“An N/H horse has more potential to have more muscle,” Turner noted. “N/N horses are really nice, but 95 percent of the time they don’t have the cut and that extra little oomph you’re looking for. There are always exceptions to the rule.

“But I would rather have an N/H horse to show. It usually has more potential than an N/N horse to get that look you want. It’s worth the risk.”

Peter J. Cofrancesco III, whose family has bred and shown halter horses for 40 years, concurs with Turner. Located in Sparta, N.J., Peter J. Cofrancesco Jr. Farms has owned 35 AQHA World Champions, and its owner has shown 16.

“All of our horses that have been successful on a national level have bloodlines that trace back to Impressive,” said Cofrancesco, who serves on the AQHA Executive Committee. “Most of the halter horses that are winning today have physical attributes that they normally would not have if they were double negative. Everything has become so specialized and it’s so competitive that everyone is trying to breed that perfectly conformed horse.

“But if someone chooses not to incorporate the HYPP gene into their program, those horses are certainly available to them. There are a lot of mares out there with the HYPP gene, so with AQHA’s new registration rules, those mare owners are going to want to breed their mares to a stallion that is double negative.”

Breeders in every equine discipline are searching for an outcross stallion that can strengthen the breed without contributing negative traits. But that genetically clean individual might already be under the industry’s nose as a gelding that is a proven competitor.

Swimming in the pool
It happens all the time, usually when a colt is a yearling. Perhaps its pedigree isn’t a name brand because its sire is young. For whatever reason, the stallion is gelded, and it goes on to become an outstanding competitor, winning titles and setting records. But because it’s a gelding, its desirable characteristics are lost.

But what if you could bring him back as a stallion so you could propagate his genetics? Cloning provides an opportunity to do that, plus dilute popular sire syndrome, Russell said.

“Cloning is the best tool we have available today to deal with popular sire syndrome. Outstanding geldings that went on to prove themselves in competition were gelded for whatever reasons,” he explained. “Maybe they weren’t the most popular bloodline at the time, but in light of some of these recessive genetics problems, maybe those bloodlines should be resurrected and given another opportunity.

“Or maybe the colt is out of a desirable bloodline that has a negative trait, and it’s gelded because of the indictment that came with the bloodline. You probably don’t even bother to gene-test your geldings. Then the horse goes on and does fantastic. But if that gelding is tested and comes back negative, then by cloning, you can bring that animal back as a stallion.” 

“By offering animals from proven bloodlines that test negative for a disease, those animals could pass along all the desirable genetics of their bloodline without passing the genetic mutations.”

While some geneticists believe cloning will increase popular sire syndrome because it adds more individuals who have the same genetics to the gene pool, Russell maintains the opposite is true.

“My argument is exactly the opposite – the only way you move away from popular sire syndrome is to have more good sires,” he explained. “Cloning offers more options in the market. There are many examples in any discipline where there are geldings that are great candidates to be good sires after they prove themselves.”

Russell cites a clone of Tailor Fit, the two-time AQHA World Champion running horse, as an example. The 1995 bay gelding by Strawfly Special out of Silk Shirt netted $1.4 million in lifetime earnings before he was retired. Tailor Fit’s soundness was as solid as his track record, which he proved by competing through his 6-year-old year. The clone, which Russell co-owns with Betty Jane Burlin, was born on May 1, 2009.

If the clone proves himself as a sire, he would broaden the gene pool by offering an alternative to other great AQHA running horses like Dash For Cash or Peter McCue.

“Tailor Fit has to prove himself as a sire before he draws some traffic away from those horses. But if he does, then he broadens the potential, and therefore popular sire syndrome is not as big as a problem as it would have been otherwise,” Russell said.

Genetic inbreeding, which resulted in inherited diseases, occurred for centuries before cloning came on the scene.

“People say there is too much genetic inbreeding in horses now, but that was done without cloning,” said Gregg Veneklasen, D.V.M., an equine reproduction specialist who performs the embryo transfers for ViaGen. “There are two ways to eliminate genetic disease. One, breed only to those horses that are N/N, or double negative, for the disease. Or two, breed to clones of horses that are N/N, or double negative.”

Dr. George Seidel Jr., a University Distinguished professor at the Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology Laboratory at Colorado State University, believes cloning can be used to address different needs.

“One of its clear advantages is making a stallion out of a gelding,” he said. “Cloning is often thought of narrowing the gene pool and it can do that, depending on how it is used. But in terms of making a stallion out of a gelding, you’re doing the exact opposite – you’re broadening the gene pool because you’re allowing more genes to be used.”

Cloning could also be used to decrease hereditary diseases in horses, said Seidel.

“I think cloning could have a positive impact on genetic disease,” he said. “It’s a tool that can be used in that direction. I don’t know what impact it would have on the industry, but I think it would help.”

Cloning isn’t a cure-all for genetic diseases, Russell cautions.

“It isn’t the silver bullet that’s going to solve every breeding problem a breeder has,” he maintains. “But in the case of genetic diseases, it’s a technology that broadens the number of options available to breeders. Genetic diseases typically are the result of one or two popular families.

“As they say, ‘Dilution is the solution to pollution.’”

No bull
When a lethal hereditary disease prompted the American Angus Association to stop registering cattle that carried the genetic mutation, some producers turned to cloning to take up the slack.

After scientists tied arthrogryposis multiplex (AM), also known as curly calf syndrome, to a lethal recessive gene traced to a maternal grandsire, Rito 9J9 of B156, the association acted swiftly to eliminate the gene.

According to an amendment approved on Nov. 15, 2008, offspring of registered AM carrier females and bulls born on or before Dec. 31, 2009, must be DNA tested for the mutation in order to be registered. Calves of registered AM-carrier females and bulls born on or after Jan. 1, 2010, must be DNA tested and be free of the mutation to be eligible for registration.

In a nutshell, the new policy allowed animals carrying the gene to be registered through 2009. After that, no animal with the gene could be registered.

“They wanted to get the allele out of the population,” said Dr. George Seidel Jr., a reproductive physiologist at Colorado State University who also raises Angus. “After 2009, you can’t register an animal that is heterozygous (who carries only one copy of the gene). If an animal has two copies, it won’t survive. If you have one copy, you’re still out. You have to do a blood test even if there’s a possibility an animal is carrying the gene.

“The rule wasn’t particularly popular with a lot of people, partly because the heterozygote is a perfectly normal animal. But half of the offspring of heterozygote curly calf syndrome cattle will get the bad allele.”

As a result, some old bloodlines have become even more popular, and breeders have cloned some cattle to preserve their genetics and make them more available. Owners of N Bar Primrose 2424, who died when she was almost 20 years old, have made genetic copies of the cow that had a major impact on the Angus breed.

Primrose 2424′s sons include Pathfinder Sire N Bar Emulation EXT (the leading sire of registered Angus cattle for seven consecutive years), and her daughters, who brought top prices at industry sales, have been key breeding influences around the world.

“Cloned calves of Primrose 2424 are selling at public auction,” said ViaGen’s Russell. “Cloning is playing a role in helping to multiply some of the individuals that were known to be negative for lethal recessives.   

“Primrose 2424 had been owned by several people who had her biopsied, so each of those groups have been cloning her. Cloning is helping to fortify their bloodlines and preserve the genetics of a great cow.”

Express Ranches in Yukon, Oklahoma, has cloned Primrose 2424.

“We recognize the importance of producing high-quality breeding stock that is genetically pure and free from known genetic defects,” said Mark Squires, office administrator of Express Ranches. “We use all proven technologies to meet the needs of our demanding clients”.

“For example, in recognition of the known recessive defects identified in the Angus breed in the past 24 months, we have produced a few clone calves of Primrose 2424, who has a track record of producing high-quality sons and daughters. She is free from these known defects, and any Angus breeder can use more Primrose genetics in their herd.”

The relationship is an excellent fit for both ViaGen and the Continental Studbook. ViaGen has cloned and continues to clone some of the signficant performance and breeding horses in our sports, and the Continental Studbook is dedicated to giving domestic breeders the opportunities to produce the highest quality and best performing horses possible. Until now, the genetic contributions of many great horses were unavailable to breeders. Colts born at ViaGen can now be registered in the Continental Studbook and eventually can be licensed for breeding provided stallion requirements are met. High performance mares which may have competed through their prime reproductive years can now produce.

The Continental Studbook Future stallions can service the largest possible domestic mare population with limited overhead for their owners, and mare owners can use these stallions without geopolitical restrictions. Traditional breeding methods will continue to represent the vast majority of horse registrations, but the Continental Studbook is proud to support access to important genes for domestic breeders who choose to use them. Cloned stallions are now used for breeding in Europe, and the Continental Studbook is pleased to bring the same opportunities to breeders in North America.

For more information about registration, visit www.continentalstudbook.com

The clone, owned by David and Janet Brown, Gainesville, Texas, initially made history when it was the first clone to be offered for sale at public auction during the Western Bloodstock Preferred Breeders Sale at the 2007 NCHA Futurity. David Brown, who owned the original Doc’s Serendipity when Joe Heim piloted the great Doc Bar mare to a 220 in a finals run cutters still talk about today, purchased the clone for $14,000 from Performance Equine Associates, Whitesboro, Texas.

The original Doc’s Serendipity, out of Biltoft’s Poco by Bar Mix, died in 2006 at the age of 32.

The first offspring of a clone was foaled on May 5, 2008, in France. The filly, Pierazade du Vialaret, was the first get of Pieraz-Cryozootech-Stallion, a clone of the two-time World Champion endurance horse, Pieraz. 

The embryo of the Doc’s Serendipity clone was transferred by Dr. David Jasko at DLR Ranch Stallion Station in Weatherford, Texas. After a recipient mare carrying an initial embryo of the Doc’s Serendipity clone resorbed the embryo, another embryo was transferred to a second mare that has had no complications.

The recipient mare is at the Browns’ ranch in Gainesville, but will be transferred to a stallion station for delivery, Janet Brown said.

“The Doc’s Serendipity clone was real easy to get in foal,” she said. “The second recipient mare and embryo are doing well.”

The Browns have entered the Doc’s Serendipity clone in the 2009 NCHA Futurity. Jamie Beamer is training her in Weatherford.

“She’s not particularly interested in a mechanical cow, but when a real cow is put in front of her, she goes right after it,” Janet said with a laugh. “She’s a very smart horse.”

David Brown discussed the cloning process with Dr. Gregg Veneklasen, who performs all the embryo transfers for ViaGen, the Austin, Texas-based company that holds the patent for equine cloning. Veneklasen performs the transfers at his Timber Creek Veterinary Hospital in Canyon, Texas.

“We have 75 pregnancies this year of clones that include some of the world’s most famous jumping horses, as well as some top cutting and barrel racing horses, that will be born in 2009,” Veneklasen said.

Clayton, a clone of Scamper, Charmayne James’ 11-time World Champion barrel racing horse, is standing at Veneklasen’s facility.

Dr. Paul Verma of the Monash Institute of Medical Research is working to develop equine embryonic stem cell lines, with the goal of creating a ‘bank’ of stem cells genetically matched to individual horses.

Tendon, ligament and cartilage injuries can range from minor inflammation to complete rupture, which can result in permanent lameness and the end of a horse’s competitive life. Once a horse has damaged a tendon or ligament, the risk of re-injury is very high. Bone damage varies in severity, with the most serious cases resulting in the euthanasia of the injured horse.

Stem cells have the potential to reverse this damage.

“We have developed techniques to derive stem cells from horse embryos, and through a pilot study, we have successfully created a number of equine embryonic stem cell lines,” Dr. Verma said. “The next step will be to look at using these stem cell lines to regenerate tendon, ligament, cartilage and bone cells. Once the stem cells can be coaxed into ‘becoming’ the appropriate tissue cells, they can be transplanted to replace the damaged tissue.”

The natural source of therapeutic cells developed by Dr. Verma will be recognized by a horse’s immune system as its own; there will be no risk of the tissue rejection that can occur with conventional transplants.

“The risk of rejection will be overcome because the new tissue will genetically match the horse receiving treatment,” said Dr. Irina Polejaeva, ViaGen’s Chief Scientific Officer.

Having ready access to a bank of individually-tailored equine cells will greatly speed up the rehabilitation process for injured horses, and give them a chance to resume activities that might otherwise have become impossible.

Current stem cell therapies involve aspirating adipose (fat) derived cells or bone marrow cells from the injured horse. The cells are then sent to a laboratory and grown into the required tissue cells — a process that can take up to three weeks. The use of equine embryonic stem cells guarantees to revolutionize equine lameness therapies.

Embryonic Stem Cell Advantages:

1. Flexible: Have the potential to make any cell type.

2. Immortal: One embryonic stem cell line can potentially provide an endless supply of cells with defined characteristics.

3. Availability: Unlimited production of embryos through somatic cell nuclear transfer process.

Current Stem Cell Technique Disadvantages:

1. Limited quantity-  Can be difficult to obtain in large numbers.

2. Finite- Do not live as long as embryonic stem cells in culture.

3. Less flexible- Difficult to reprogram to form other tissue types.

About:

Monash Institute of Medical Research

The Monash Institute of Medical Research was established in 1991 by Emeritus Professor David de Kretser AC, the Governor of Victoria, Australia. Since then, the Institute has pioneered research into the characterization and application of stem cells; the cause and treatment of inflammation and cancer; and the improvement of women’s, men’s and children’s health.

Dr. Paul Verma

Dr Paul Verma is renowned internationally for his research into reprogramming somatic cells and the isolation and characterization of embryonic and adult stem cells. His overarching research aim is to produce autologous (patient-specific) stem cells, using cell reprogramming techniques such as somatic cell nuclear transfer and iPS cell technology that are clinically relevant and transplantable into humans. He has published many scientific papers and edited a book on transgenesis, cloning and stem cells. He is listed as principal inventor on eight granted and provisional patents in the field of cell reprogramming and stem cells.

Executive Committee member Phil Rapp, who wants to show two clones in the 2009 NCHA Futurity, abstained from voting. The clones, Whats On Tap and Playboys Ruby Too, are being trained at Rapp’s ranch in Weatherford, Texas.

Whats On Tap is a replicate of Tap Olena, the multiple NCHA champion Rapp and his wife, Mary Ann, bred and own. Playboys Ruby Too is a clone of Playboys Ruby, the second all-time leading producer of cutting horses that Rapp showed and owned until he sold her and the clone to Waco Bend Ranch, Graham, Texas, in October 2006. Both of the originals and their clones remain at Rapp’s facility.

This is the first time an equine performance group has set a policy that allows clones to compete. The decision was made after NCHA member and attorney Lew Stevens addressed the committee and suggested that the policy be adopted, Willoughby said.

“Lew Stevens recommended that as a performance horse association, not a breed association, NCHA should allow clones to be shown,” he explained. “After it was discussed, Phil Rapp excused himself from the vote, and the policy was passed unanimously.”

Stevens was a member of the NCHA’s task force on cloning.

Rapp and his wife, Mary Ann, said they were relieved, but not totally surprised, by the vote’s outcome.

“According to NCHA rules, any horse can be shown if it’s 3 years old, whether it’s registered or not,” Rapp said.

Although other performance groups, including the National Barrel Horse Association, have no rules that prohibit clones, the American Quarter Horse Association, one of the world’s largest equine breed organizations, does not allow clones in its registry. AQHA tabled a proposal requesting that its rule be changed during its 2008 convention, pending a study on cloning by the association.

While the NCHA is the first equine performance group to actually establish a policy on cloning, it was just business as usual, said Willoughby, who was chairman of the NCHA’s task force on cloning. The policy was one of several items the Executive Committee considered during its annual two-day meeting.

“We didn’t look at it as a landmark decision. We just set a policy as we saw fit, like we do others,” Willoughby said.

“I hadn’t thought about it being historical, but I guess it’s a big step,” Rapp said after the meeting. “It’s pretty exciting. I guess we’ll get our entries in when we need to and go from there. We’ll send our check in shortly.”

The first payment for 2-year-olds to be entered in the 2009 Futurity is due Oct. 15. Whats On Tap and Playboys Ruby Too are being trained by Clint Modistach, who starts Rapp’s 2-year-olds. When he has time, Rapp plans to take over the clones’ reins.

“The clones are doing great,” he said. “I’ve been so busy getting my 3-year-olds trained and Clint does such an excellent job that I’ve been leaving the clones’ training up to him for a while. But I’m looking forward to working with them again.”

Meanwhile, Rapp has been busy in the cutting arena. On Sept. 5, the 39-year-old horseman, who is the industry’s all-time earnings leader, surpassed the $6 million NCHA milestone at a weekend cutting in Sweetwater, Texas.

Whats On Tap and Playboys Ruby Too were produced by ViaGen, a commercial cloning and gene-banking company headquartered in Austin, Texas. The company, which controls the patents for equine cloning, has successfully replicated at least 20 champion horses from around the world.

At press time, the company’s most recent clone to be born was foaled on Aug. 4. The clone is a replicate of Airwolf, the legendary saddle bronc horse who was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2006. It was born at Timber Creek Veterinary Hospital in Canyon, Texas.

Airwolf from Viagen on Vimeo.

The world’s first cloned horse, Prometea, has had a foal.

Pegaso, her son, is the first offspring of an equine clone confirms, once again, that cloned animals can grow and reproduce normally, giving rise to healthy offspring.

Prometea with her foal Pegaso: The development may help the breeding of champion racehorses

The name Prometea, a Haflinger mare, is a reference to Prometeo (Prometheus), who was punished for stealing fire from Olympus for the benefit of mankind.

She entered the history books in 2003 when she was unveiled as the world’s first horse clone, one that offered a way to preserve the genetic heritage of many exceptional horses whose genes are presently lost because champion geldings are castrated.

“During these five years Prometea has been in very good health and often at the centre of media attention,” says her creator, Prof Cesare Galli of the Laboratory of Reproductive Technologies in Cremona.

“The ultimate proof of her normality has just come with the birth of Pegaso, on March the 17th 2008, after a single insemination with the semen of the Haflinger stallion Abendfurst.”

Pegaso has special significance in racing because sporting horses are castrated at a young age. “When they become adult and demonstrate to be champion horses, they are unable to reproduce and it is therefore impossible to obtain the next generation: the champion’s offspring,” says Prof Galli.

“This is a bitter reality that clashes with the driving principle of animal breeding and selection that is based on the reproduction of superior individuals to pursue genetic improvement of the breed.

“Therefore, today, horse cloning is simply an assisted reproduction technique that allows us to obtain copies/clones of castrated champion horses and finally, from these clones, the champion’s offspring that otherwise would never be born.”

Prof Galli showed the technology could revolutionise blood stock breeding when he unveiled a cloned foal of Pieraz, an Arab endurance champion, in 2005.

He has cloned cattle and pigs too, and worked with human embryo cells, which led to him being excommunicated by the Catholic Church, even though he did not himself destroy embryos but used embryonic stem cells that had been derived in other countries.

Prof Galli first encountered problems with the authorities when he unveiled Galileo, Italy’s first cloned bull, which was confiscated by Italy’s Health Ministry.