The owners of the leading mare in Florida's HITS Ocala Winter Circuit will have the chance to continue the bloodlines with a free embryo transfer, which will be performed by Dr. Corey Miller, head of reproduction at the Equine Medical Center of Ocala.
All mares are eligible and the award will be given to the highest finisher in the $100,000 DeLuca Toyota Tundra Grand Prix on Sunday, March 16.
According to Christine Miller, Manager of the Station Services Department at Equine Medical Center, sport horse mares are normally not available for breeding until they are retired from competition, at which time they are frequently so old that they are lucky to be able to get pregnant.
"By utilizing advanced reproductive techniques such as embryo transfer, we can get foals from our top competition mares without interrupting their competitive careers," said Miller.
"We need to improve our breeding programs in this country to produce our own internationally competitive horses instead of attempting to purchase horses from overseas markets, where the best horses are rarely sold outside of their home country. The first and most important step is to begin using our best mares to produce our best prospects."
The 2008 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit will kick-off with the return of the popular $20,500 Marshall & Sterling Children's/Adult Jumper Championship during the two unrated shows in January. More commonly known as the "Are You a Champion?" series, the Jumper Championship was first offered in Ocala during the 2007 Winter Circuit and was an immediate success. Offered for one of the fastest growing segments in the sport today, this unique four-phase event also includes bonus prize money of $5,000 awarded to the top-eight finishers overall and points from the second and fourth legs count towards the Marshall & Sterling League.
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