Photo of Wiseguy Two Too via ViaGen, Kelsey Walker
I’m not sure whether to be impressed or slightly creeped out, and it has nothing to do with that really fat man who sat next to me on my flight this afternoon. The Chronicle is reporting that Ronald Zabala-Goetschel, an Eucadorian entrepreneur familiar on the US eventing circuit, has successfully cloned his horse Che Mr. Wiseguy–an impressive 11 year old gelding who competed at Rolex with Ronald in 2011. After a failed cloning attempt in 2009, three successful foals have been created in April through ViaGen Inc., a company based in Texas. A press release from ViaGen announced the cloning success this morning, and said that the foals have been named Wiseguy Too, Wiseguy Two Too, and Wiseguy Two Top. They will stay in Texas until 60 days after their birth, when they will move to Pennsylvania, where Ronald trains with Phillip Dutton.
How much will it cost you to clone your favorite horse? The press release says $165,000 per “project.” On one hand, I feel that this is a pretty gratuitous example of extreme spending in equestrian sport, but on the other hand some people have paid way more than that for horses this year. [COTH]
Go eventing.
