rogers-elanor

Clone Offspring Entered At NCHA Futurity

rogers-elanorRogers Elanor and Shane Hall • Photo by Hart PhotosWhile horsemen collectively await the Fifth U.S. District Court of Appeals’ decision regarding whether or not the American Quarter Horse Association will have to register clones, the offspring of several cloned mares are making their debut at the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Futurity in Fort Worth, Texas. The three 3-year-olds are Rogers Elanor, Metallic Lil Melody and Rubys Metallic Matti.

The first of the three to compete was Rogers Elanor, who is sired by Metallic Cat and out of Serendipity Again, a clone of Doc’s Serendipity. Shane Hall rode Rogers Elanor in the first go of the Open on Nov. 21, marking a 204 that failed to advance them to the second round.

“I just didn’t have a very good run,” said Hall. “She cut for me, but we just didn’t get a whole lot done. She tried to be decent, but she had a little miss – just one of those green 3-year-old deals.”

Hall started and trained Rogers Elanor for Roger Anderson, who bought the filly as a yearling from breeder David Brown, of Gainesville, Texas. Brown bred and owned Doc’s Serendipity (Doc Bar x Biltoft’s Poco x Bar Mix), the 1977 NCHA Futurity Open Reserve Champion, and owns her clone. Anderson, of Hillsboro, North Dakota, was scheduled to ride Rogers Elanor in the first go of the Non-Pro on Tuesday, Dec. 2, but the mare came up lame after a practice run earlier this week.

“Roger worked her and he got along with her really good,” Hall said of the 78-year-old owner. “I was more training her for him than me anyway. My whole plan was to have him go down there to the herd on her.”

While Rogers Elanor won’t return for the Non-Pro, owner Jason Abraham has two clone offspring entered. Rubys Metallic Matti and Abraham will compete as the 10th draw in the first set on Saturday, Nov. 29. Rubys Metallic Matti is by Metallic Cat and out of Playboys Ruby Too, a clone of Playboys Ruby. Playboys Ruby has produced 18 performers that have earned nearly $1.8 million, ranking her No. 2 on Equi-Stat‘s list of all-time cutting dams. She is the granddam of earners of more than $2 million.

“She’s just so easy to get around, and she’s such a big stopper,” Abraham said of Rubys Metallic Matti. “[She] is really awesome.”

Abraham will compete again on Dec. 1 with Metallic Lil Melody as the next-to-last team in the eighth set. Metallic Lil Melody is also sired by Metallic Cat, and is out of Lynx Melody Too, a clone of Lynx Melody. Lynx Melody is the dam of earners of more than $1.2 million and the granddam of earners of more than $2.4 million.

“I’ve never gotten to ride anything as good as either one of these two, so I’m pretty excited about them,” Abraham said of his two Futurity entrants. “The Lynx Melody might be a little bit more cow smart than the Playboys Ruby, but the Playboys Ruby’s athletic ability is just so much better. I believe they’re really, really good, and everybody at the pre-works bragged and bragged about them. I’ve enjoyed every second of riding both of them.”

Abraham, of Canadian, Texas, is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the AQHA, and is a staunch supporter of cloning.

“The naysayers say the clones aren’t as good as the originals,” Abraham said. “Well, it’s exactly the same DNA and we’re just preserving these genetics. Cloning is just another tool, like embryo transfer or anything else. That’s what cloning is all about. It’s not about showing the clones; it’s about preserving the genetics and then you show the offspring.”

The first offspring of a clone to compete in cutting is believed to be 2009 gelding Back To The Future, by High Brow Cat and out of Serendipity Again. In 2012, Back To The Future and Tim Smith tied for fifth in the South Point Futurity Gelding Open and were seventh in the Pacific Coast Cutting Horse Association Futurity Gelding Open. Back To The Future has earnings of $6,148, according to Equi-Stat.

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