The 80% only applies to the AQPS horses in France. All other racehorses must have a higher percentage, most of them are infact 100%. In order for a foal to be registered with Weatherbys as a racehorse, by the time it is 6 weeks old a blood sample taken from the foal and a DNA sample (hairs pulled from the mane or tail) from its mother must be sent away for testing. Weatherbys keep on file the DNA profile of all registered stallions so that they can cross-check to confirm parentage. These tests have often thrown up interesting results - most often that the father of a foal is not who they think it is, and even that (in one case I know of) the mother was wrong! In that case two mares at the same stud had given birth on the same night, the following day they had been turned out for a few hours in the same small paddock and, as the maternal bond had not yet solidified, the two mares had "swapped" foals. I've not been paying enough attention to the Paddy Power shop, but I suspect they are selling off some of their betting machines to make way for new ones!
Thanks PN - I hadn't realised that the bloodlines were so strictly monitored. It blows to smithereens, my dream of finding an escaped gypsy horse nibbling the plants in my front garden and me turning him into a CGC winner
Racing Post are putting together a foal gallery for their website. Once it is live I'll put up a link.
Sad news, LIKE A BUTTERFLY, winner of the Supreme Novices in 2002, has died following a bout of colic. She gave birth to a colt by YEATS last week.
I remember Like A Butterfly well. Years ago I used to drive my (late) father-in-law to a hospital in London for his heart checks and on one occasion while I was waiting I popped out to a bookies along the road and had a bet on LAB, and she won bless her. I have a feeling it might have been at the Cheltenham Festival. RIP
that would be she, and bless her Ron. The clue is in the quote from princess - "She gave birth to a colt by YEATS last week" Do pay attention
please log in to view this image Just spotted that in a clip today Oddy. Nipped in to edit it before anyone noticed. THEN, I saw the clue Then bollocks, Oddy's spotted it
Fantastic article on Frankel and his new career in yesterday's Sunday Times, accompanied by this picture View attachment 21400 Sadly it is not available online unless you are a subscriber. If I get the chance I will type the article up later one.
Would love to see that but don't type it out PN there must be a quicker way, copy and paste or screenshot??
I only have a hard copy! I don't have access to the Times online website unfortunately! I might see if I can scan it and import it into Word - it's on broadsheet sized paper so I'll have to do it in bits!
In the meantime, if you missed the Morning Line piece from Banstead Manor on Saturday morning, here you go: [video=youtube;mVLCpp_G4YM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVLCpp_G4YM&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Right, I've managed to scan the article in and after a spot of tweaking it is ready. I'll put up a new thread so that more users see it.
