racing
How Domestication Has Changed the Horse’s Genes
The course of civilization was profoundly altered by the domestication of the horse on the steppes of Eurasia some 5,500 years ago. Merchants, soldiers, explorers, and adventurers of all stripes—newly empowered by the horse to gallop rather than walk—expanded trade, warfare, migration of populations, and the transmission of ideas. To understand the genetic changes wrought by the domestication process, researchers have long wanted to compare the genes of today’s horses to those of ancient wild horses. Since no descendants of the latter have survived, scientists until recently have studied the Przewalski’s horse, the closest extant breed to those ancient horses. Now, discovery of horses frozen in the Siberian permafrost dating from 16,000 up to 43,000 years ago has given scientists a direct window into the ancient horse and has offered new insights into the process of domestication. Ludovic Orlando of the Natural History Museum of Denmark and his team have examined DNA from twenty-nine of these ancient bones and compared it to DNA from five modern domesticated breeds. They discovered that some genes present in today’s horses are totally absent from the ancient horses. They opine that these genes are mutations that resulted from the selection processes over the years. One such gene not found in the ancient horse is what they have called the short-distance speed gene present in every racehorse. The very process of domestication—the selection by humans on attributes such as strength, speed, and biddability—has by its very nature led to inbreeding. Over the five millennia since domestication began, genetic mutations not present in the ancient horses have introduced problems in the modern horse unknown to its wild ancestors. Some scientists not involved in this study believe that comparison of modern horse DNA to wild horse DNA from around the time that domestication started (about 5,500 years ago) would be a better baseline from which to understand the genetic changes caused by domestication. Click to see Sharon Begley’s Reuters article in the Christian Science Monitor and the accompanying video. Posted December 17, 2014
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Inaugural Sporting Art Auction
Over the Ditch by Sir Alfred MunningsPut the expertise of the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction house—Keeneland—together with Gregg Ladd's premier gallery of sporting art—Cross Gate—both located in Lexington, Kentucky, and you get what should turn out to be an exceedingly important auction of sporting art. This inaugural Sporting Art Auction will take place on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 at 4:00 p.m.
To be sold are 174 lots, both paintings and sculptures. The focus is on sporting art by nineteenth and twentieth century American and British artists—realists and impressionists—such as Sir John Frederick Herring, Sir Alfred Munnings, John Emms, Pierre Jules Mene, John Skeaping, Lionel Edwards, Edward Troye, Franklin Voss, Peter Curling, Peter Biegel, Michael Lyne, three generations of Wyeths (N.C., Andrew, and Jamie), Mary Cassatt, and Andre Pater.
Charles Church in Open Air
Private commission by Charles Church
I wrote recently about the paintings of Sir Alfred Munnings and his portrayal of the horse in motion—flowing, graceful, muscles rippling, indescribably beautiful—on the occasion of the brilliant exhibition of his works at the National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia. I am hopeful that one day I can announce to you an exhibition of the works of a contemporary artist—Charles Church—at that same venue!
Church, 43, is today an internationally renowned painter of horses, landscapes, and country life. Upon the occasion of his last critically-acclaimed exhibition, the Prince of Wales wrote of Charles’ “unique sensitivity and profound understanding of his subject matter.” His commissions have included The Royal Pageant of The Horse for H.M. The Queen, as well as paintings for H.M. The Sultan of Oman and H.H. The Aga Khan. His racing commissions include more than thirty-seven Group or Grade 1 winners.
Leading Steeplechase Trainer Turns Huntsman
Eva Smithwick and Hey Doctor / Douglas Lees photo
Eva Smithwick captured the Leading Trainer title on the Virginia Point-to-Point circuit this year. It was her and husband Speedy Smithwick’s first year back in Virginia after seventeen years in Kentucky training on the flat tracks. As if being a top trainer doesn’t keep her sufficiently busy, she’s agreed to hunt hounds for Snickersville this season.
The Snickersville foxhounds hunt over Sunny Bank Farm in Middleburg, home of the late Dot Smithwick. Eva, having returned to Sunny Bank with Speedy to continue his mother’s training business, just couldn’t say no to MFH Greg Ryan.
“Greg is a persistent fellow,” said Eva. “Every time the dinner conversation turned to the question of who would hunt hounds this year, Greg would stare at me.”
Thornton Hill Fort Valley Hounds Kick Off Virginia Race Season
In the Junior Field Masters Chase, Brett Jackson, MFH leads (l-r) Erin Swope on Jordan, Kelly Witte on Missy (small pony winner), and Emme Fullilove on Sparta (large pony winner). / Douglas Lees photo
Thornton Hill Fort Valley Hounds opened the Virginia point-to-point season on Saturday, March 2, 2013 at Thornton Hill Farm in Sperryville. The first race, the Field Masters Chase for horses and small and large ponies, was followed by four races over hurdles, two flat races, and three timber races.
Kelly Witte on Missy, last year’s leading small pony, came to the wire six lengths behind the large ponies and won her division. Last year’s large pony champion Jordan ran just behind the Field Master but lost his rider Erin Swope at the last fence, giving Sparta the win with Emme Fullilove aboard. Emme also won the division for horses on GR’s Prize, holding off Erin Swope's Sweet Talking Guy in the stretch. Bay Cockburn saddled both winners.
Raja: Story of a Racehorse
Raja: Story of a Racehorse, Anne Hambleton, Old Bow Publishing, 2011, 250 pages, illustrated by Peggy Kaufmann, $14.95The fictional adventures and travails of a well-bred Thoroughbred foal are chronicled from the early days by his dam’s side to a Grade 1 Stakes win, to the jumpers in the “A” circuit, to the New York City Mounted Police, to foxhunting with Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds, to the Blue Ridge Hunt point-to-point, and finally to the Maryland Hunt Cup. As a foal, Raja is cursed with a phobia for lightning—the recurring source of his many troubles along the way in achieving his potential.
This may be Anne Hambleton’s first novel, but she has had plenty of practice honing her writing skills in the business side of her life. On the equine side, Hambleton is a horsewoman who knows all the disciplines intimately, and Raja’s adventures unfold believably and with authority. The characters in the story—both animal and human—are well-crafted, and we care about them.
