Published:
June 2, 2010 05:18 pm EDT
The Ontario Racing Commission today announced that, along with industry members of the Medication Control Advisory Group, it is supporting a research study into hemoglobin levels in racehorses participating in
the province.
The University of Guelph will be conducting the research study.
The program will collect 200 pre-race and 200 post-race blood samples from a group of quarter horse, standardbred and thoroughbred horses.
To read the ORC announcement in its entirety, click here.
Researchers have discovered
Researchers have discovered a sex based linkage in the ability of the blood of humans to absorb and, more importantly, to maintain high levels of oxygen. Research of the oxygen saturation of Hemoglobin in residents of high altitude communities indicates the ability to adapt to the stress imposed by oxygen deprivation is a function of genetics. The gene responsible for this ability has been identified on the X-chromosome in humans.
Thus it would seem possible that the effect of the X-factor in horses may not necessarily be a function of heart size but rather a function of the oxygen carrying ability of the blood itself if it can be proven that the performance of certain horses is the result of the same kind of genetic adaptation.
In earlier times horse breeders would describe their performance horses as being “of high blood”, usually in reference to the degree of Thoroughbred influence in the pedigree, but perhaps unwittingly giving a clue to what really makes for exceptional performers, a higher ability to absorb and retain the high levels of oxygen required for performance under stress.
It is common practice in modern medicine to make use of an oximeter, a device that measures blood oxygen saturation, during and after surgical procedures. Such devices attached to a finger tip or toe, or through the placement of sensors on the head, can monitor and quantify the changes in blood saturation in the patient as the stress levels within the body fluctuate, providing a critical alarm sytem to indicate the need for emergency intervention.
Blood hemoglobin levels in horses are usually determined though actual blood analysis but the oximeter provides an instantaneous and non invasive way of obtaining comparable data. It would be interesting indeed if such measurements can be related to the pedigree as a predictor of future performance or an explanation of the past.
In recent times we have seen the advent of “blood doping”, the artificial stimulation of the blood to transport higher levels of oxygen for short periods of time. Such practices are under scrutiny by sports bodies worldwide and have been the object of investigations in such sports as cycling, track and swimming, all of which depend upon speed and endurance to produce winning efforts. Inevitably the sport of horse racing will face the same kind of scrutiny as unscrupulous trainers turn to synthetic products such as EPO capable of producing the same effects on the blood of performance horses.