Equinome Launches New Website to Assist Buyers in Advance of Bloodstock Auctions

BLACKROCK, Ireland - Jan. 7, 2014 - PRLog -- Equinome^TM, a world-leading Irish equine genomics company, today announced the launch of its new website Equinome Sales (http://www.equinomesales.com).

The new website enables bloodstock buyers to purchase genetic profile information of horses in advance of auctions to assist them with their purchasing decisions.

The first auction to have such genetic information available prior to sale is the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in Queensland, Australia. This auction, the biggest such annual sale in Australia, starts tomorrow and runs until 14 January.

Equinome, a University College Dublin (UCD) spin-out company, headquartered at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs, has been providing genetic tests to the global bloodstock industry since its launch in 2010.

In 2012, it opened its first overseas sales office in Australia to support the growing demand for its services across Australia and New Zealand.

The new Equinome Sales website offers results for three genetic tests for racing performance and conformation.

The first, the Equinome Speed Gene Test, predicts the optimum race distance of a Thoroughbred horse through the analysis of the DNA at a particular point in a gene controlling muscle development.

The second, the Equinome Elite Performance Test, identifies the genetic potential of a horse to perform at an elite level based on the profile of genes related to sprint, mid-distance and staying ability.

The third, the Equinome Projected Height Test, is a new Equinome test which is being launched with the new website. The Equinome Projected Height Test, based on the identification of a genetic marker in horses for height, can predict the mature height of a Thoroughbred horse to within 2.54 cm or 1 inch with a 70% success rate.

225 yearlings from eighteen vendors to be auctioned at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale have their genetic information available on the new website. These include horses consigned by Baramul Stud, Patinack Farm, Cressfield Stud, Lyndhurst Stud and Glenlogan Park.

Speaking at the launch of the new website, Donal Ryan, Managing Director, Equinome, said, “We are very excited about this latest development in the utilisation of genetic information made available from Equinome tests. We believe that genetic information is an essential component of a balanced selection strategy that considers new and traditional assessment tools.”

He added, “We are delighted that the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in Queensland is the first auction to have this information available. Australia has been at the forefront in the adoption of Equinome’s technologies in the past four years and we were delighted by the response of so many breeders and purchasers when we first proposed this idea earlier this year.”

He concluded, “We will continue to add the genetic profiles of horses in advance of other upcoming auctions in Australia and Europe, including Ireland.”

Equinome, an Enterprise Ireland supported company, works with many of the leading Thoroughbred breeding and training operations in Europe, North America, Australasia and Hong Kong.

ENDS

7 January 2014

For further information contact:Micéal Whelan, University College Dublin, Communications Manager (Innovation), e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: + 353 1 716 3712 or Donal Ryan, Managing Director, Equinome, e: donal.ryan@equinome.com.