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: