Radiographic prevalence of juvenile osteochondral conditions of the proximal interphalangeal joint of Australian Thoroughbred racehorse yearlings and associations with sales results and race performance.
Abstract: Ascertain the radiographic prevalence and variation in characteristics of juvenile osteochondral conditions (JOC) in the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ) of Australian Thoroughbred racehorse yearlings. Establish whether there are any significant associations with public auction sale results and racing performance. Unassigned: Retrospective evaluation of 1,098 yearling repository radiograph sets. Comparison of sales results and whole career racing performance of the case group with two control groups: maternal siblings ( = 397) and yearlings without PIP JOC ( = 391). Unassigned: 6.3% of yearlings had at least one PIPJ JOC lesion with 4.8% having subchondral lucencies of the proximal phalanx (P1SC), 0.6% with subchondral lucencies of the middle phalanx (P2SC) and 0.8% with osteochondral fragmentation (OCF). P1SC were more prevalent in forelimbs and P2SC and OCF were more commonly located in the hindlimbs. 51% of PIPJ JOC were not identified on a lateromedial projection (LM). A significantly lower proportion of horses with OCF were successfully sold at public auction ( ≤ 0.05) but there was no significant difference in sales price between the case group and controls. A lower proportion of horses with PIPJ JOC made it to the racetrack to race, although this was not statistically significant. There was no significant difference in racing performance between the case group and controls, although there was a trend toward case horses earning lower career prize money and lower prize money per race ( ≤ 0.1). Lesions located in a dorsal or palmar/plantar location on the LM projection earned a lower average prize money per race ( ≤ 0.05) than those in a central location, and showed a trend toward earning lower total prize money ( ≤ 0.1) and number of places ( ≤ 0.1). There was no significant difference in performance for horses with lesions at the medial, axial or lateral aspects of the articular surface. Unassigned: Overall, the findings of this study indicate that the presence of PIPJ JOC in radiographs of Thoroughbred yearlings should be attributed a low to moderate risk to future racing performance, however certain lesion characteristics may be associated with decreased performance.
Copyright © 2022 Faulkner, Vanderperren, Duchateau and O'Sullivan.
Publication Date: 2022-10-10 PubMed ID: 36299626PubMed Central: PMC9589099DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2022.988826Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary
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The study investigates how juvenile osteochondral conditions (JOC) in the joint of young Australian Thoroughbred racehorses affect their performance in racing and the sale at public auctions. The research suggests that while the presence of this condition holds a low to moderate risk to the horse’s future racing capabilities, certain lesion characteristics may contribute to decreased performance.
Research Methodology
- The study is based on a retrospective evaluation of 1,098 radiograph sets of yearling Thoroughbred horses.
- It explores whether there are any significant associations between the prevalence of juvenile osteochondral conditions (JOC) in the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ) and the horses’ auction sales results and racing performance. The researchers compared data from horses with and without these conditions, and also with the siblings of these horses.
Findings
- The study found that around 6.3% of yearlings had at least one PIPJ JOC lesion, with 4.8% having subchondral lucencies of the proximal phalanx (P1SC), 0.6% with subchondral lucencies of the middle phalanx (P2SC) and 0.8% with osteochondral fragmentation (OCF).
- There was a tendency for P1SC to be more common in the forelimbs, while P2SC and OCF were usually located in the hindlimbs.
- About half of the JOC were not identified on a lateromedial projection (LM), which is a particular radiographical view.
- The research discovered that horses with OCF were less likely to be sold in public auctions, though the sales price wasn’t significantly impacted by the presence of the condition.
- Additionally, horses with PIPJ JOC were less likely to race, but statistically, this was not significant.
- Even though horses with these conditions did not show significantly different race performance compared to unaffected horses, they tended to earn less total prize money and lower prize money per race.
- In terms of lesion location, lesions situated in a dorsal or palmar/plantar area tended to result in lower average prize money per race.
Conclusions
- The research concludes that the presence of PIPJ JOC in radiographs of Thoroughbred yearlings should be associated with a low to moderate risk to future racing performance.
- However, they additionally found that certain lesion characteristics may be linked with decreased performance.
- There was no notable difference in performance for horses with lesions at the medial, axial or lateral aspects of the articular surface.
Cite This Article
APA
Faulkner J, Vanderperren K, Duchateau L, O'Sullivan C.
(2022).
Radiographic prevalence of juvenile osteochondral conditions of the proximal interphalangeal joint of Australian Thoroughbred racehorse yearlings and associations with sales results and race performance.
Front Vet Sci, 9, 988826.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.988826 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
- Department of Morphology, Imaging, Orthopedics, Rehabilitation and Nutrition, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
- Biometrics Research Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium.
- Randwick Equine Centre Equine Specialists, Horsley Park, NSW, Australia.
Conflict of Interest Statement
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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