Page 30 - March 2008 The Game
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30 The Game, February 2008
W WH A T S E R O L O G Y C A N , A N D C A N ’ T , T E L L U S
ith neurologic EHV-1 still other immunological substances
Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper I mC p r e s s i v e L i n e - U p
at Canmor for 2008
British Columbia, will once again provide Canadian breeders with an impressive line-up of stallions for 2008.
in the news, not to mention in body  uids, particularly serum.
a new and worrisome disease called (Serum is the clear or yellowish  uid Lawsonia – which until recently that separates from clotted blood.)
anmor Farms in Aldergrove,
affected pig, deer, and rodents, but not horses -- consider the dilemma of the veterinary diagnostician, on whom unrealistic expectations are often laid.
Serology can be a handy way of diagnosing disease through analyzing the characteristics of the antibodies produced against the invading bacteria or virus, and it yields results much faster than culturing (introducing a  uid sample to media in a Petri dish and then subjecting the resulting microbial growth to a battery of diagnostic tests).
majority of horses will have encountered them, and developed antibodies against them, at some
point in their travels. And to further muddy the diagnostic picture, there
is a vaccine – numerous vaccines, in fact – for EHV. The effect of a vaccine is to stimulate the immune system to manufacture antibodies, so that when the virus makes its way into the horse’s system, it’s already prepared to take
Leading British Columbia sire, Regal intention (Vice Regent - Tiffany Tam, by Tentam) will be standing his 17th season at stud.
Maybe it’s “CSI”’s fault. Television shows about forensic investigation suggest to us that obtaining a diagnosis is as simple as slipping a DNA sample into the USB slot of your laptop, prompting it to yield an instant, technicolour, 3D graph -- with sound effects -- of exposure patterns, mortality rates, likely sources of contagion, and the show’s latest ratings on the laptop screen.
In the real world, the answers serology provides aren’t necessarily as cut-and-dried as those on a 42-minute television drama. For example, most serological tests can’t distinguish between recent exposure to a pathogen, past exposure, or just exposure to a vaccine against that pathogen.
on the enemy. But serology can’t tell a veterinarian whether the antibodies present were the result of a vaccine, or of exposure to the disease itself.
With more than $13,000,000 in progeny earnings, Regal Intention is the sire of 25 stakes winners including last year’s Alberta Breeders’ Handicap winner Arthurlooksgood and 2-year- old maiden allowance winners Spice Trader and Krazy Koffee.
The reality is rather more mundane. The interpretation of  uid samples – whether blood, plasma, urine, saliva, or, um, respiratory exudate – is both complex and time-consuming, in addition to being highly dependent
on a veterinarian’s knowledge of the sample quality, the horse’s clinical signs, other factors such as the vaccination history, and of course the test procedure itself. Final conclusions are not arrived at overnight. Some- times they’re not arrived at, at all. Tests can often be inconclusive ... and even when they’re not, a single sample drawn from one particular horse on one particular day isn’t necessarily indicative of anything, especially with no baseline to compare it to.
So when, as in Florida in late 2006, a number of horses start exhibiting worrisome neurological symptoms, the unfortunate truth is that serology isn’t much help in diagnosing the problem as neurologic EHV-1. There are other ways to come to that conclusion, of course, but they did little to
alleviate the considerable anxiety felt by horsepeople with sick animals (as well as those with healthy horses stabled next to the sick ones) while they were waiting for a diagnostic answer.
Regal Intention is the sire of Canadian Champion Woolloomooloo and Champion Peru mare, Nadja.
Let’s look at serological analysis, which is one of the most common methods of testing for disease, mostly because it relies on the relatively simple act of obtaining a blood sample, and doesn’t have outrageously dif cult handling requirements for that sample.
Mazel trick (Phone Trick - Mazatleca(MEX), by Ramahorn) also entered stud in 2000 and has progeny earnings of more than $2 million.
What, exactly, is serology? It’s the study of the measurement and characterization of antibodies and
various versions. Then there’s the fact that both EHV-1 and EHV-4 (the most worrisome strains for horses)
are just about everywhere in North America, so it’s a safe bet that the vast
He is the sire of 8 stakes winners in 5 crops of racing age including 2007 Honor Grades Handicap winner Voy Por Uno Mas, 2007 Ruf an Stakes winner My Lucky Star and 2007 BC Cup Sprint stakes placed Stole Another who was a winner in 2007 at Woodbine.
Serology is very effective at identifying diseases such as the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), a contagious, but rarely fatal, disease which makes the rounds in the southern United States every few years. Serology is an ideal diagnostic for this disease because most North American horses are immunologi- cally naïve to VSV (that is, they’ve never been exposed to it), and there’s no commercially available vaccine. So a positive serologic test for VSV con rms that a horse has indeed been exposed to vesicular stomatitis.
He is the sire of Champion BC Mares Shelby Madison and Point Guard as well as BC Champion 2-year- old  lly Queen of My Nights.
Equine herpes virus (EHV), on the other hand, is something of a serologic nightmare. For one thing, there are several strains of EHV, and serology has a hard time distinguishing between the antibodies developed against
The serologic EHV dilemma may not have a solution, but the study of serology is advancing all the time and is providing clinicians with valuable diagnostic clues. For example, with an IgM capture ELISA test, researchers can now detect a particular subclass of antibodies that are developed during only an initial exposure to a pathogen. Combined with clinical signs of disease, the results of this analysis can be extremely helpful in arriving at a disease diagnosis. The science is moving towards the use of more antigen-speci c, and antibody- subclass-speci c, tests, which will take us closer to that CSI fantasy.
Stephanotis entered stud in 2000 and with progeny earnings of more than $2.6 million and 12 stakes horses including multiple stakes winners Notis Otis, Wild Bender and Stephanson and Tough Topic.
Equine Health
By Karen Briggs
Dave Landry Photo
stephanotis (Regal Classic - Flicker Queen, by Wavering Monarch) is also one of BC’s leading sires.
He is the sire of the 2007 CTHS Sales Stakes winner Stephanson as well as 2007 stakes winner Tough Topic. Progeny In nite Wealth and Restless Lady were also stakes placed in 2007.
Mazel Trick is the sire of multiple stakes winner Outcashem ($532,277) and multiple stakes winner Ontheqt.
Did You Know....
surface, was granted a Royal Warrant of Appointment to Queen Elizabeth ll, which is effective for  ve years as of January 1, 2008.
That for the  fth consecutive year, Adena Springs was North America’s leading breeder by earnings as well as the leading breeder including partnerships.
Martin Collins Surfaces and Footings LLC, the North American distributor of Polytrack, is a joint venture owned by Martin Collins International and Keeneland.
In 2007, Adena Springs bred 538 winners with earnings of $18,055,772. Sez Who Thoroughbreds was a distant second with 291 winners with earnings of $7,856,427.
Royal Warrants are a mark of recognition to people or companies who have regularly supplied goods or services for at least  ve years to certain members of the Royal family. The  nal decision to grant a Royal Warrant is made by the member of the Royal family concerned, and in Martin Collins case, it was the Queen.
Adena Springs homebreds included G1 Ginger Punch, Citronnade and Sugar Shake racing in 2007.
Adena Springs has breeding farms in Kentucky, Florida and Ontario, Canada.
Did You Know....
That Champion Trainer Aidan O’Brien is protesting against the plans to build a waste treatment plant adjacent to Ballydoyle stables in County Tipperary, Ireland.
The majority of Britain’s top equestrian competitions, such as the London International Horse Show, Royal Windsor Horse Show, and Hickstead are held on Polytrack Surfaces, a synthetic surface which is considered to be safer than conventional dirt surfaces.
The huge plant being proposed by Green Organic Energy will be used for processing approximately 215,000 tons of animal waste for bio-energy. O’Brien is concerned about air quality and cross contamination from infected materials with the plant so close to the thoroughbred training farm.
Royal Warrants are regarded as a mark of excellence and quality and are highly prized.
Did You Know....
In North America Polytrack has been installed at Keeneland Race Course, Turfway Park, Arlington Park, Del Mar and Woodbine.
That Martin Collins, manufacturer of Polytrack synthetic
Light of Mine (Mining - Illuminating, by Majestic Light) entered stud in 1999 and is the sire of the very talented, BC Horse of the Year and Champion, Roscoe Pito, a multiple graded stakes winner of more than $600,000.
New to Canmor this year is the stallion snorter (Awesome Again - Retiro Park, by Meadowlake). Snorter is a winner of 5 career races including the G3 Berkely Breeders’ Cup Handicap.
His sire Awesome Again is a proven sire of this year’s Eclipse Award winning Older Female Ginger Punch, and promising new sire Ghostzapper. His dam, Retiro Park is a full sister to North American Champion G1 winner Meadow Star and a half sister to GSW Optic Nerve.
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