Pedigree Query

This is a horse racing at Aqueduct---they made a big deal out of her having blue eyes.

Is this blue eye color unusual in an animal without any overo or tobiano? She seemed a normal bay with a blaze and maybe a couple of white socks. (All that I could notice from the quick look I got).

It's HIGHLY unusual. I can count on one hand the number of blue eyed Thoroughbreds I've ever heard about.

Her dam's name is Northern Eyes... maybe that's what you heard. Or perhaps the dam had the blue eyes too.

Someone go get a picture!

I have two friends that have seen her in person, she does indeed have blue eyes.

Did a search and apparently this is the equine. Even the photo give us the name "Blue Destiny":

http://www.saratoga.com/horse-racing-bl ... 0Horse.JPG

She's got a wide blaze. What is going on is that the embryonic tissue that contained the forehead and eye were affected by the "color off" command. This created both the blaze and the blue eyes (no pigment) The as the embryo developed into a foal, the face migrated, eyes moved, and she ended up with the eye as an island surrounded by skin that didn't get the "color off" command.

Very striking.

xfactor fan wrote:She's got a wide blaze. What is going on is that the embryonic tissue that contained the forehead and eye were affected by the "color off" command. This created both the blaze and the blue eyes (no pigment) The as the embryo developed into a foal, the face migrated, eyes moved, and she ended up with the eye as an island surrounded by skin that didn't get the "color off" command.

Very striking.

I believe that blue eyes and the bottom heavy blaze are indicators of the splash gene. It looks like her blaze doesn't extend to her bottom lip either -- another indicator of splash.

springboro wrote:Her dam's name is Northern Eyes... maybe that's what you heard. Or perhaps the dam had the blue eyes too.

Someone go get a picture!

I did get a glimpse of her eyes. Pretty striking and you have to wonder at the genetics.

She's got some grays in her lineage...

That does indeed look splash. I don't see anything obvious in her pedigree though.

Her head is very pretty, has anyone seen her body/conformation?
Any stockings or belly white. I bet she would produce neat color.

accphotography wrote:I don't see anything obvious in her pedigree though.

Her pedigree seems to suggest no great deal of color flamboyance save for Northern Dancer (powerful guy) but Graustark is always a mystery (as well as Ribot with his white markings). Another angle is that this is not the first time I have encountered the presence of All Moonshine (1941) on a headscratching pedigree. Be aware that All Moonshine was half sister to Hyperion, (the “one-man-gang” of color oddities as I like to call him) Note that All Moonshine’s pedigree is also carrying Gainsborough, just like Hyperion.

Don’t forget that Nearco (1935) is the sire of both Nearctic (Northern Dancer) and Royal Charger (1942). Royal Charger himself is the sire of Turn-To (sounds familiar? --- Halo) Seaneen (1954) Royal Dorimar (1960) and Mongo (1959 -- see his photo). In synthesis, the names are scattered over there so who knows.

reedhill wrote:Her head is very pretty, has anyone seen her body/conformation?
Any stockings or belly white. I bet she would produce neat color.

I THINK she has white socks on her forelegs. Or it could have been bandages; her hind legs had bandages.

Does Aqueduct have free race video re-runs? Maybe you could check, though their footage isn't the best.

Hey whadayaknow, this filly is a half-sister to Phantom Blues, the subject of this other post
http://midatlantichorserescue.org/Avail ... antom.html

Looks like mommy's the culprit

From what I've read, splash seems to be a gene that "hides" easily, being that it's often only expressed by flat topped socks (as opposed to the pointy leg white of sabinos) and by bottom heavy blazes and snips etc that are "cut off" at some point before extending to the bottom lip. At the other end of the white spectrum, it can be hidden by more flamboyant sabino markings.

Nerd wrote:Hey whadayaknow, this filly is a half-sister to Phantom Blues, the subject of this other post
http://midatlantichorserescue.org/Avail ... antom.html

Looks like mommy's the culprit

Good job Nerd!!!