Determination of Race Performance's Factors Of
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Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA) 6(1) (2022) 07-11 Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA) DOI: http://doi.org/10.26480/mjsa.01.2022.07.11 ISSN: 2521-2931 (Print ) ISSN: 2521-293X (Online) CODEN:MJSAEJ RESEARCH ARTICLE DETERMINATION OF RACE PERFORMANCE’S FACTORS OF ARABIAN THOROUGHBRED TUNISIAN HORSES AND THE IMPACT OF INTRODUCTION OF OCCIDENTAL THOROUGHBRED HORSES INTUNISIA IkramBensoufa,b*,NaceurMhamdib, Hatem OuledAhmedc ,FatenLasfard, Belgacem Ben Aound, AbdessalemTrimechea aNational School of Veterinary Medicine,SidiThabet 2020 Ariana, University of Manouba, Tunisia bResearch Laboratory of Ecosystems & Aquatic Resources, National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia,Carthage University, 43 Avenue Charles Nicolle, Tunis 1082, CGenetics Laboratory, Institute of Veterinary Research of Tunis, 20 Rue DjebelLakhdhar - La Rabta 1006 Tunis, Tunisia dNational Foundation of Amelioration of the Horse Race in Tunisia, 2020 SidiThabet *Corresponding author: IkramBensouf; E-mail: [email protected] This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ARTICLE DETAILS ABSTRACT Article History: The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of age, sex, running distance and origin of horse on racing speed for Thoroughbred Arabian horse in Tunisia. Although the occidental type is known to be more Received 14 July 2021 successful in racing than the Tunisian type, we undertook this study to try to confirm or deny this supremacy Accepted 16 August 2021 for a sample of racehorses born in Tunisia from occidental father. A total of 333 racing records were Available online 23 August 2021 considered for race performance. The effects of environmental factors on (sex, age, father's origin, race distance, number of race seasons) race performance were analyzed using the least-squares method(LSM).The racehorses studied were all Arabian Thoroughbred horses in operation at the racecourse of Ksar Said from 2010 to 2020. They are 180 horses, 90 horses born of a Tunisian father, and 90 horses born in Tunisia ofthe occidentalfather. These horses are the best and most successful in their category. The study revealed that the gender and age effectswere statistically insignificant onracingperformance. Race performance was significantly influenced by the distance and the origin of the father which affirms the improving role of the occidentalhorse in the Tunisian population. KEYWORDS Arabian thoroughbred, racing performance, speed, variation’s parameters, horse’s origin 1. INTRODUCTION 2010). In Tunisia, the Arabian horse is a priceless asset that is an integral part of our heritage and its breeding represents an important component The Arabian horse is considered an international transboundary horse in agricultural production and the national economy and promotes due to its blood accessibility in all continents through various horse breeds alternative tourism.However, it is important to note that despite the (Khadka, 2015). Horse racing serves as a performance test to evaluate the incentives taken in favor of this sector studies have highlighted a certain speed and endurance of horses. Globally, the breed most widely used for regression of the performance of the horses, especially in comparison with racing is the Thoroughbred (Klecel et al., 2021). Arabian horses are levels recorded in occidental countries, this finding has prompted generally considered to be one of the oldest and most influential horse professionals to propose the use of infusion of occidentalblood in the breeds in the world (Ropka-Molik et al., 2019; Glazewska, 2010). The Tunisian population. Stallions and frozen semens have been imported. Thoroughbred Arabian horse is the ultimate racehorse, especially in flat This opening should allow us to join the pack of countries that have built a racing. Its strength, intelligence, elegance, and robustness make this reputation in Arabian thoroughbred racing. However, the impact of the animal a cultural jewel and give it great economic and cultural importance introduction of foreign blood in the Tunisian population of Arabian horses throughout the world. Nowadays, horse breeding is mostly undertaken for has not been studied. Through this study, we will investigate some factors sport and recreation purposes (Taylor and Field, 2014). The performance that are supposed to influence the performance of Arabian thoroughbred of the horse in racing is measured in various forms. In flat racing, to assess horses in racing and the impact of the infusion of occidentalblood in racing performance, the most widely used measure is speed (m/sec) Tunisia (Paksoy and Ünal, 2019). In horses, racing performance is a quantitative trait. Therefore, genetic and environmental factors control this trait 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS (Takahashi, 2015; Paksoy and Ünal, 2010). Many factors influencing the racing performance of Thoroughbred Horses (e.g. Breeding, nutrition, 2.1 Data and animals exercise, race distance, race track, sex, weight, age, age of dam, and racetrack) have been discussed in some studies (Ekiz and Kocak, 2007; Data used in the present study was provided by the technical service of the Buxadera and Mota, 2008; Bakhtiari and Heshmat, 2009; Paksoy and Ünal, Horse Racing Society in Ksar Said, Tunisia.The racehorses studied were all Quick Response Code Access this article online Website: DOI: www.myjsustainagri.com 10.26480/mysj.01.2022.07.11 Cite The Article: IkramBensouf, NaceurMhamdi, Hatem OuledAhmed,FatenLasfar, Belgacem Ben Aoun, AbdessalemTrimeche (2022). Determination of Race Performance’s Factors of Arabian Thoroughbred Tunisian Horses and The Impact of Introduction of Occidental Thoroughbred Horses Intunisia. Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agricultures, 6(1): 07-11. Malaysian Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (MJSA) 6(1) (2022) 07-11 Arabian, thoroughbreds activeat the racetrack of Ksar Said from 2010 until (Yildirim, 2018; Sobczyńska, 2011). The active Tunisian horses at the ksar 2020. The study was conducted on 90 clinically healthy Tunisian Arabian Said racetrack are aged between 2 and 10 years, this shows that horses (Tunisian type) and 90 clinically healthy occidental fathers born in thoroughbred horses generally complete their growth and development at Tunisia (Occidental type). The animals have an age varying from 2 to 10 the age of two years, in line with the statement that thoroughbred horses years old. A total of 333 race records have been considered for mature early (YavuzkanPaksoy and Necmettin Ünal, 2019). Thoroughbred performance in a race. These horses are all winners of group races and horses start their racing career one year earlier (two years) than other they are the best and most successful in their category. The performance breeds used in flat racing in many countries (YavuzkanPaksoy and parameters are recorded on Historical Cards of the horses The historical Necmettin Ünal, 2019). sheets are individual documents for each horse that has run at the racecourses of the Horse Racing Society. This document is used to register Table 2: Characteristics of Tunisian thoroughbred horses the name of the horse, sex, date of birth,and originsmainly the name of its mother and father. It is also used to capture the racing career data of the Parameters Mean Min Max SD horse, including the names of the races run, their category, date, distance, Age (years) 4.31 2 10 1.46 and times achieved as well as the ranking and earnings per race. However, Time (s) 125.25 79.60 248.20 20.15 the time achieved during the race is recorded only for the first horse. Distance (m) 1694.29 1400 2600 231.28 2.2 The Parameters studied and statistical analysis Speed (m/s) 13.58 8.05 20.10 0.67 The parameters used to assess the performance of the horses were the Number of race seasons 4.5 1 9 1.84 speed over the different distances covered and the factors influencing the performance in races studied were the sex, age, the origin of the father, Number of racing 32.01 1 100 16.68 distances covered, and the number of racing seasons The characteristics of the data used in the analyses are presented in Table 1 (Buxadera and This is confirmed and explained by who revealed that the different body Mota, 2008). measurements of thoroughbred horses were similar at two and three years of age, despite a significant increase from one to two years of age Table 1: Descriptive statistics for the horses used in the study (Anderson and McIlwraith, 2004). Kocher and Staniar also estimated that two-year-old horses should reach 95% of the adult value in terms of height Information on class levels at withers (Kocher and Staniar, 2013). Based on statistical analyses, the Class Levels Values variation in velocity with age was not significant which is consistent with the results found (Sobczynska, 2003; Oliveira, 1989; Mota et al., 1998). Origin 2 occidental/ Tunisian This could be partly because in the mentioned study there was only the Sex 2 Male/ female race time of the winners and not all the participants in the race or also the retirement of less performing horses at an early age. However, even Age 9 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 though the age effect on speed in the present study was not statistically Season 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 significant, the differences between the mean speeds as a function of age are existing (Figure 1). Indeed, the average speed was 13.50 m/s at the age Distance 6 1400,1600,1700,2000,2100,2600 of 2 years and increases progressively until it reaches its peak at the age of 5 years (13.71 m/s) then it decreases again to 13.25 m/s at the age of The race speed of the horses was determined according to the distance in 10 years. each run was calculated individually. Data analysis was performed using the SAS statistical package (SAS Institute Inc.