Eclipse and the DNA of a Champion

What made the undefeated 18th Century horse, Eclipse, such a great champion. The genetics research is giving insights into the origins of the world's thoroughbred racing stock, including the sensational 1867 Derby winner, Hermit.

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Eclipse is one of the Greatest Racehorses of all time

Eclipse was never beaten when he ran from 1769-1770 and was retired largely because of the lack of competition. Super stallion Eclipse's descendants include Kauto Star and Desert Orchid and almost all thoroughbred racehorses.Scientists have succeeded in examining Hermit’s origins and in taking a sample of DNA from one of Eclipse's teeth as part of a project to unlock the 'lifecodes' of great thoroughbreds. Professor Matthew Binns, an equine genetics expert from the RVC, who is part of the project, said: “Eclipse was probably the greatest racehorses in history. He won 18 races and usually by 10 or 20 furlongs. Flat races were much longer in those days. Genetics is playing an ever bigger role in equine science as researchers try to understand what horses more susceptible to disease or more likely to break down in training.” Research already shows that today's racehorses can trace their line to a very small group of animals imported from the Near East and North Africa in the early 1700s.

Eclipse and his Groom , By George Stubbs

The RVC's work is adding further detail to this story and it should also show up which genetic traits have come through the 30 or so generations since the foundation of the stock.

The RVC has also set its Structure and Motion workgroup on to Eclipse. Experts at the Royal Veterinary College combined what was known about  the heroic horse from his paintings, CT scans of his skeleton and reports of his races and created computer models of the horse. Using portraits of Eclipse and contemporary accounts of the horse running the researchers reconstructed one of its legs and have discovered that its legendary speed may have been due to its 'averageness'. In short, a great racehorse needs to be more than just quick footed - it must also be rather average. The research involved analysing Eclipse's skeleton to develop models of horse movement. Using the models the research team built 'theoretical limbs' on a computer and tested answers to questions on not only why Eclipse was so fast but also why horses can remain balanced when each leg is off the ground for 80 per cent of the time during gallop and what limits a horse's maximum gallop speed. 

Dr Alan Wilson, who led the study, said: "All the factors for speed were perfectly matched. A key ability for a fast horse is to be able to bring its legs forward quickly, which is difficult for large animals with long limbs. Eclipse was smaller than modern racehorses. Rather than being some freak of nature with incredible properties, he was actually just right in absolutely every way."

Royal Veterinary College. "Why Was The Racehorse Eclipse So Good?." ScienceDaily, 11 Jun. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2012.

Monterosso provided Godolphin with first Win since 2006

SHEIKH MOHAMMED was delighted after Monterosso provided Godolphin with their first success in the Dubai World Cup since 2006. It was the best World Cup result since the switch to Meydan and it crowned a fantastic night for the boys in blue, who also managed to top and tail the card with African Story and Opinion Poll. Racing is about finding 'the best horse on the day'. Circumstances will often sway the result away from the best horse, but rarely does one factor alter the statement. On the Tapeta at Meydan, however, it is starting to look like the statement should read: the best horse on the track on the day. When the Dubai carnival switched to Tapeta in 2010 the main question was whether the surface would run more like dirt or turf. On Saturday three of the four Tapeta races were won by horses already proven on the track. It was the same story in 2011 (three from four), while in 2010 all four had previously won on synthetics. That means that ten of the 12 winners of World Cup night Tapeta races had already won on a synthetic track; nine had already proved themselves at Meydan.

The two horses who managed to win without previous synthetics form were Victoire Pisa inthe 2011 World Cup and Daddy Long Legs, who won the UAE Derby on Saturday. Victoire Pisa won as a result of a canny ride, gutsing it out for a narrow victory and still running below his turf form, so his success hardly disproves the theory. Daddy Long Legs is a dirt-bred turf horse from a multi-surface family and was therefore open to handling it on his first attempt. You could say he's a kaleidoscope horse from a kaleidoscope family and the synthetics three-year-olds he was up against did not look a particularly strong bunch. From a sample of just 12, this synthetic specialism theory could easily dissipate in the next few years, but there is a strong enough trend across the three meetings to be very wary of backing (or running) horses unproven on the surface.Trainers may choose to prove their horses on synthetics before shipping to Dubai, or they may come over for the whole carnival rather than just World Cup night - with previous form at Meydan being particularly important to success. Given the colossal prize money on offer there will always be a field for the World Cup, but you have to wonder whether running it on a third surface, which favours neither dirt or turf horses, will secure the best possible field. America has a couple of synthetic tracks but dirt will always be their dominant surface. Europe also maintain some synthetic tracks, but the best races are all onturf and that doesn't look likely to change any time soon, yet Meydan wanders lonely as a cloud on Tapeta.

 

If it acted as an intermediate surface there would be an obvious attraction to hosting international races on Tapeta, but after three years it appears to be between nothing and nowhere, sitting rather as a third axis on the graph; a third bundle of form and ratings distinct from the rest. Sometimes turf form translates onto dirt and sometimes those figures tally with Meydan form, but there is enough disparity to consider them three separate mediums, deserving three parallel form books. African Story, Krypton Factor and Monterosso were all impressive winners at Meydan, but would each confirm that impression against the same rivals back on turf? That is not to detract from what they achieved on Saturday. Run the races again and they would all be just as impressive they were clearly the best on the track on the day. Monterosso may have been 20-1, but he ranks as an average winner of the Dubai showpiece with an RPR of 126 - putting him alongside previous Godolphin victors Singspiel and Electrocutionist Monterosso's success may have been slightly unexpected, but he was rapidly progressive for Mark Johnston in 2010, improving his RPR on every start between January and June and he has picked up that steep curve on the weekend. He barely raced in the interim, winning a Group 2 on the turf in March 2011 on his first start for Godolphin, then running twice in unsatisfactory pace-biased events on the Tapeta.