Champion Endurace Arabian Cloned
4/15/05

A 2-time endurance world champion, Pieraz, was cloned in Italy. The clone foal was born Feb 25th, 2005. While Thoroughbred racing has bans on cloned horses , endurance doesn't have such rules.

However, the reason Pieraz was cloned was not for competing, it was for breeding. Pieraz is a gelding and his owners wanted to pass his genes on, so a clone was created. He will stand at stud after he turns 2.

The clone, named Pieraz-Cryozootech-Stallion ( Pieraz II for short), was the only clone foal born. It took over 200 tries, which resulted in 3 pregnancies, to create him.

This has lead to many questions about what kind of rules should be put in place by registries or competitions regarding cloned horses. Will there be any demand to breed to this clone? Can this horse be registered? Can its offspring be registered? Can its offspring compete? These questions have yet to be answered.

News stories regarding Pieraz II:

• http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/397/63202.html
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1569923,00.html
• http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/300536p-257163c.html