Jockey Club clarifies breeding rule

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Jockey Club has altered its rules to explicitly forbid embryo transfer, cloning, and artificial insemination for registered Thoroughbreds.

"The revision makes clear that natural breeding practices do not include cloning," said The Jockey Club's registrar, Edward A. "Buddy" Bishop.

The new wording becomes effective immediately and says, "To be eligible for registration, a foal must be the result of a stallion's natural service with a broodmare (which is the physical mounting of a broodmare by a stallion), and a natural gestation must take place in, and delivery must be from, the body of the same broodmare in which the foal was conceived."

The rule goes on to state that "any foal resulting from or produced by the processes of artificial insemination, embryo transfer, cloning (as defined in the Glossary of Terms) or any other form of genetic manipulation not herein specified, shall not be eligible for registration."