Grand Armee
At the Start
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2005
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I found this on an Australian news website this morning, very interesting story actually.
Each way bet as hermaphrodite horse What Am I races
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Kelly Ryan
May 01, 2009 12:00am
YOU would be forgiven for having a wager each way when pacer What Am I races in Ballarat tonight.
The aptly named pacer is unique in Australasia, albeit with a bit of an identity crisis and personality problems to boot.
His sometimes odd behaviour bewildered his owner and perplexed equine experts - until they realised What Am I is one of only two hermaphrodite horses racing in the world.
Born with more male chromosomes than female, but with the sex organs of a mare, it wasn't until it was time for him to be gelded that racing associates noticed something missing.
Further veterinary investigation revealed that the horse, which goes by the stable name Baxter, was a male with a mare's genitalia.
Registering the promising pacer with Harness Racing Victoria proved problematic.
"Well, we didn't know whether to fill in that he was a colt or filly when he was being named," Murphy said.
The only other hermaphrodite horse racing is a Canadian mare called Arizona Helen who was found to also be intersex when "she" twice tested over the limits for testosterone.
What Am I's owner Basil King said he noticed differences in his pacer when he was taken to be broken in.
"He's a nice horse and he can run," King said. "He's all right until you put food near him and then he gets a bit nasty."
But King disputed that his horse is a hermaphrodite, which has both male and female reproduction organs.
"He has neither male nor female reproductive organs and in fact he is so rare they have had to come up with a new term - vaggintersex - to classify the fact he has neither sexes' reproductive organs."
The glossy black horse has had one start for fourth after trialling well.
He is expected to generate plenty of interest when he lines up in the Foster Bros Tyrepower 3YO Pace tonight.
Each way bet as hermaphrodite horse What Am I races
Article from: The Courier-Mail
Kelly Ryan
May 01, 2009 12:00am
YOU would be forgiven for having a wager each way when pacer What Am I races in Ballarat tonight.
The aptly named pacer is unique in Australasia, albeit with a bit of an identity crisis and personality problems to boot.
His sometimes odd behaviour bewildered his owner and perplexed equine experts - until they realised What Am I is one of only two hermaphrodite horses racing in the world.
Born with more male chromosomes than female, but with the sex organs of a mare, it wasn't until it was time for him to be gelded that racing associates noticed something missing.
Further veterinary investigation revealed that the horse, which goes by the stable name Baxter, was a male with a mare's genitalia.
Registering the promising pacer with Harness Racing Victoria proved problematic.
"Well, we didn't know whether to fill in that he was a colt or filly when he was being named," Murphy said.
The only other hermaphrodite horse racing is a Canadian mare called Arizona Helen who was found to also be intersex when "she" twice tested over the limits for testosterone.
What Am I's owner Basil King said he noticed differences in his pacer when he was taken to be broken in.
"He's a nice horse and he can run," King said. "He's all right until you put food near him and then he gets a bit nasty."
But King disputed that his horse is a hermaphrodite, which has both male and female reproduction organs.
"He has neither male nor female reproductive organs and in fact he is so rare they have had to come up with a new term - vaggintersex - to classify the fact he has neither sexes' reproductive organs."
The glossy black horse has had one start for fourth after trialling well.
He is expected to generate plenty of interest when he lines up in the Foster Bros Tyrepower 3YO Pace tonight.
