When Arizona Helen lined up at the gate last night at the Meadowlands against a group of $20,000 claimers, only a few people would know the path this former pacing daughter of Arizona Jack took to get there
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As Trot Insider learned from Dr. Marc Knobbe of the New Bolton Center School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the case of Arizona Helen could set an important benchmark going forward as more state and provincial racing commissions crack down on the use of anabolic steroids.
"Arizona Helen was referred to New Bolton Center for further evaluation of what appeared to be an intersex condition, which means anatomic features of a male and some of a female," Knobbe told Trot Insider. "Routine trackside testing had revealed abnormally high levels of testosterone (male hormones) in Helen's blood.
"Further examination of the mare by a New Jersey veterinarian, Dr. Patricia Hogan, revealed that the mare did not have completely normal female external genitals. In fact, externally Helen did have some features of a female and some of a male. Internal examination suggested that Helen had structures that on palpation appeared to be testicles in her abdomen. She arrived at New Bolton Center to do follow-up evaluation to further characterize Helen's specific type of intersex condition"
Owned by Niele Jiwan of Burnaby, B.C., the then five-year-old mare Arizona Helen was racing at Chester Downs in late November and early December when she tested over the allowable limit for testosterone for two consecutive weeks - in which she won both races. With trainer Rich Bilach stating the horse had not been given steroids, 'Helen' was examined by Dr. Hogan and then shipped to New Bolton for stringent testing.
"A complete physical exam and examination of the external and internal genitalia was performed. From a distance, Arizona Helen has the outward appearance of a female. But on closer examination, the horse's perineum, the area located under the anus, did not have a normal female conformation," stated Knobbe.
"The horse also had the appearance of an udder and teats, consistent with a normal female. Horses are one of the few species in which males generally do not have teats.
"Ultrasonographic examination of the internal genitalia revealed two internal gonads that have the ultrasonographic appearance of testicles. There was no structure identified that was consistent with a uterus or ovaries," continued Knobbe. "Male hormones were evaluated to determine if Helen could produce male hormones. Blood, skin and hair samples were submitted to a animal genetics laboratory at Texas A&M University for testing. Finally, Arizona Helen was placed in proximity to an estrogen-treated ovarectomized mare to determine if Arizona Helen had any stallion-like behavior."
These tests provided the New Bolton Center team of reproductive specialists the answers into the cause of elevated testosterone levels detected during racing - that the mare was, in fact, not just a mare.
"The hormone stimulation tests did reveal that testosterone did increase in response to administration of exogenous gonadotropins indicating that the most likely source of the testosterone is the internal gonads consistent with internal testicles," said Knobbe. "The genetic tests indicated that the horse is a genetic male having the one X and one Y sex chromosomes.
"If an animal's phenotypic sex (appearance of male or female genitals) does not correspond to the chromosomal or gonadal sex, the animal is described as an intersex. In Arizona Helen's case, this particular form of intersexuality is classified as a 'male pseudohermaphrodite'. The term male pseudohermaphrodite describes a situation where the animal has testicles but the external genitalia are feminized. The term 'pseudohermaphrodite' is used to distinguish from a true hermaphrodite. True hermaphrodites are extremely uncommon and require the presence of both testicular and ovarian tissue."
While Dr. Knobbe could not locate or confirm any published reports of other standardbred pseudohermaphrodites, he said that a true incidence rate is unknown, but is is very rare, and these animals are not capable of reproducing.
Given that all standardbreds are subject to genetic testing at the time of foal registration, Trot Insider confirmed that the lab that receives all North American DNA samples might, in the future, offer another test to validate both gender and parentage.
"In the majority of cases we would be able to test for gender based on the DNA sample submitted," stated Tara McParland, Supervisor of Maxxam Analytics' Animal DNA Division. Maxxam handles the parentage verification for both Standardbred Canada and the U.S. Trotting Association.
"It has not completed internal validation but very soon we'll be rolling out a new test that, in the majority of cases, will allow for gender to be verified as well as parentage."
With an increased number of racing jurisdictions proceeding with testing for anabolic steroids, the case of Arizona Helen is one example of how a rare abnormal genetic condition could result in a mare testing positive.