• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1779-1784
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• 2008

Seasonal changes in the concentration of free amino acids were determined monthly in plasma from the jugular blood of 50 thoroughbred racehorses that compete during the night between June and September and during the day between October and January. The concentration of most free amino acids remained relatively constant between June and January. However, those of glutamic acid, alanine, isoleucine and lysine tended to decrease and that of arginine (Arg) significantly decreased between July and September. The concentration of methionine (Met) gradually increased between June and September and significantly decreased thereafter. The concentration of 3-methylhistidine (3-MH) significantly increased between July and September and decreased thereafter. There were significant correlation between 3-MH and Arg. In conclusion, this study provided evidence of significant seasonal change in plasma 3-MH, Arg and Met of racehorses, and this was considered to relate to an environmental effect. Moreover, our study is the first to show 3-MH in plasma of racehorses affected by environmental change.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.307-310
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• 1988

This experiment was carried out to provide the data of blood chemistry in use of application to clinical diagnosis in racehorses. Blood was collected from 30 racehorses(♀ 17, ♂ 13). Calcium, inorganic phosphorus, blood glucose, blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol, bilirubin, fibrinogen and ketone body in serum were analyzed as follows. 1. The values of calcium and inorganic phosphorus were maintained a certain level without much variation regardless of sex and species, Ca/P ratio was in the range of 3.13~3.35. 2. The value of blood glucose was 60 mg/100ml, Age and sex of racehorses make no difference in the value. 3. The value of blood urea nitrogen and total cholesterol showed a tendency to increase according to the age. Total cholesterol value was somewhat higher in male than in female. 4. The value of total bilirubin showed a tendency to increase according to the age. There was no difference between sexes in the value. 5. The value of fibrinogen showed no apparent difference with age and sex. 6. Ketone body was negative in all of the cases. 7. There was no variation in the species of the racehorses.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.1066-1072
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• 1999

The present study was carried out to investigate the blood markers of Cheju horses. The red cell types (blood groups) were tested from 73 Cheju native horses and 118 Cheju racehorses by serological procedures with 23 reagents. The blood group phenotypes observed with high frequency were Pb(34.3%), Qc(56.2%), Qb(15.1%) and genotypes Dbcm/dghm(12.3%), Dde/dghm(9.6%), Dad/bcm(6.8%), Dcgm/de(6.8%) in Cheju native horses, while Aa(63.6%), Pa(44.9%), P-(28.8%), Qabc(36.4%), Dbcm/cgm(14.4%), Dbcm/bcm(10.2%), Dbcm/de(7.6%), Dbcm/dghm(5.1%), Dde/dk(5.1%) in Cheju racehorses. Alleles observed with high frequency were Ab(0.128), Ac(0.169), Dad(0.103), Dadn(0.075), Ddghm(0.226), Pb(0.316), Qc(0.494) in Cheju native horses and Aa(0.529), Dbcm(0.306), P-(0.531), Qabc(0.197), Q-(0.504) in Cheju racehorses. No specific variation of blood groups and allele frequencies of C,K,U system were observed in Cheju native horses and Cheju racehorses. The mean heterozygosity in Cheju native horses and Cheju racehorses was observed 0.5344 and 0.5102, respectively.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.190-194
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• 2018

Recently, the horse racing industry in Korea has developed rapidly with good betting turnover. One of the most important factors in enhancing the performance of racehorses is the study of equine exercise physiology. This study was performed to analyze the results of pre-race blood test on race day and evaluate its correlation with the race performance in Thoroughbred racehorses. Twenty-one, healthy 3- to 6-year-old Thoroughbred horses were used to collect blood samples and hematological and biochemical measurements were performed. Results were analyzed to identify its correlation with racing performance. Analysis of hematological profile of pre-race blood of the racehorses revealed that red blood cell indices including RBC, Hb, and PCV levels were elevated. Additionally, levels of AP, AST, and GGT were also elevated in pre-race blood of horses on race day. RBC, Hb, and PCV levels of high performance racehorses were significantly lower than those of low class racehorses. Moreover, the analysis of correlation between blood test results and racing ability-related categories have shown negative correlations for rating, placing strike rate, prize money per race, RBC, Hb, and PCV and positive correlations for G3F and PCV. Additionally, AST value was positively correlated to prize money per race. Thus, the results of this study show that red blood cell indices and AST are good parameters for evaluating racing performance of horses before the race.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.19.1-19.9
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• 2022

Background: Gastric ulcer is one of the prevalent diseases in racehorses. However, it has not been recognized as important in Korea, and drugs used to treat gastric ulcers are included in the doping test list, so they are not allowed to be administered to racehorses in training. Objectives: This study was performed 1) to investigate the prevalence and the severity of gastric ulcers in Thoroughbred racehorses in Korea, 2) to confirm the therapeutic effect of ranitidine and omeprazole, and 3) to compare the efficacy between ranitidine and omeprazole. Methods: Forty-nine horses were randomly recruited, and gastroscopy was performed within two days after racing. Twelve horses with a sum grade of five or higher were randomly assigned to two treatment groups. Seven horses were administered ranitidine, and five horses were administered omeprazole. Follow-up gastroscopy was scheduled within one to five days after finishing the treatment. Results: The prevalence of gastric ulcer in Korean Thoroughbred racehorses after racing was 100%, and the grade was more severe in the non-glandular region than in the pyloric region. There was no correlation between the severity of gastric ulcer in the two regions. Omeprazole had a greater therapeutic effect than ranitidine. Conclusions: This study shows the importance of recognizing gastric ulcers as an important factor, and omeprazole as a possible treatment option in Korea, as it has been removed from the list of prohibited substances for racehorses. Thus, the use of omeprazole is currently recommended until one day before the race.

• Journal of the korean veterinary medical association
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.102-106
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• 1986

This experiment was performed to investigate the levels of hematolgical parameters in Korean racehorses. Animals used were 30hearthy racehorses (male 17, female 13) with about 435kg body weight from 2 to 8 years of age. The number of RBC and platelet, Hb

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2008

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic trend on racing time of Thoroughbred racehorses in Korea, using a total of 209,725 racing records of 9,934 racehorses collection from January, 1990 to December, 2006. Phenotypic trends for all distances were negative at a rate of －0.148, －0.137, －0.137 and －0.139 second per race year for distances of 1,000m, 1,400m less than, 1,700m more than and overall dataset, respectively. Environmental trends were similar to phenotypic ones in all distances and trends in permanent environmental and jockey effects by race year were not found. Average genetic improvements for racing time were －0.037 and －0.030 second per race year at the 1,000m and overall dataset, respectively, which is low. But Genetic trends were decreased consistently. There is need to establish the genetic improvement program for quality of racehorses.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.199-202
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• 1988

The present study was carried out to investigate the serum enzyme activities of racehorses. The enzymes investigated were aspartate and alanine aminotransferase (GOT, GPT), ${\gamma}$-glutamyl transpeptidase(${\gamma}$-GTP), Lactic dehydrogenase(LDH), creatine phosphokinase(CPK), and alkaline phosphatase(ALP). Animals used were 30 healthy racehorses(♀17, ♂13) average weighing 435kg and were from 2 to 8 years of age. LDH activity was progressively decreased with age and next in the order of GOT and CPK activities. GOT and ${\gamma}$-GPT activities were not changed with age but ALP activity tended to be decreased wish age. Activities of GOT, GPT, ${\gamma}$-GTP and ALP were higher in female than in male. There was no difference in CPK activity by sex, and no difference was found out among breeds.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.763-774
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• 2016

Equine gastric ulcer syndrome is one of the most frequently reported diseases in thoroughbred racehorses. Although several risk factors for the development of gastric ulcers have been widely studied, investigation of microbiological factors has been limited. In this study, the presence of Helicobacter spp. and the gastric microbial communities of thoroughbred racehorses having mild to severe gastric ulcers were investigated. Although Helicobacter spp. were not detected using culture and PCR techniques from 52 gastric biopsies and 52 fecal samples, the genomic sequences of H. pylori and H. ganmani were detected using nextgeneration sequencing techniques from 2 out of 10 representative gastric samples. The gastric microbiota of horses was mainly composed of Firmicutes (50.0%), Proteobacteria (18.7%), Bacteroidetes (14.4%), and Actinobacteria (9.7%), but the proportion of each phylum varied among samples. There was no major difference in microbial composition among samples having mild to severe gastric ulcers. Using phylogenetic analysis, three distinct clusters were observed, and one cluster differed from the other two clusters in the frequency of feeding, amount of water consumption, and type of bedding. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the gastric microbiota of thoroughbred racehorses having gastric ulcer and to evaluate the microbial diversity in relation to the severity of gastric ulcer and management factors. This study is important for further exploration of the gastric microbiota in racehorses and is ultimately applicable to improving animal and human health.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.427-431
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• 1998

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage(EIPH) on the finishing position of racehorses, 400 bleeders(305: 1 time, 76: 2 times, 19: 3 times, total: 514 cases) which had bled(EIPH) from their nostrils after their races at the Seoul racecourse during the 5 years period('93-'97) were analyzed for this study. The ratio of bleeders to total racehorses in finishing position 1-3,4-6, 7-9 or above 10 was 0.55, 0.84, 0.90 or 1.13%, respectively. There is tendency to higher incidence of bleeding in the later positioned racehorses group. To analyze the correlation between EIPH and finishing position, finishing potion of each EIPHed horses' was checked at 7 successive races(3 races each before/after EIPH. The average final position at the -3rd race, -2nd racer -lst racer EIPHed race, 1st race,2nd race and 3rd race of each bleeder was 5.85. 5.94, 6.21, 7.32, 7.20, 6.51 and 6.53, respectively. Raring times were adjusted to 1,000 m equivalent. Average racing times of the -3rd race,-2nd racer -lst raced EIPHed race, 1st race, 2nd race and 3rd race of each bleeder was 67.1, 67.1, 67.2, 67.6, 67.5, 67.4 and 67.3 second, respectively. Bleeders which finished the race within 1 second following the winners were 25. 3% of total bleeders. The rest 74.7% reached at the finish line 1 second later than the winners. Particularly 46.3% of bleeders were above 2 second later. Therefore this study suggested that bleeding has effect on performance of the racehorse, consequently it make bleeders be placed later positions.