Cloned mules lead pack in annual Nevada races

WINNEMUCCA, Nev. – Two qualifying heats, two wire-to-wire victories, two nearly identical times. It was almost like the same mule won twice.

Idaho Gem, the world’s first equine clone, and his brother, Idaho Star, made successful debuts Saturday in what scientists billed as the first professional competition between clones of any kind.

The mules will compete against each other – and six naturally bred animals – for an $8,500 purse in the finals of their bracket today at the 20th annual Winnemucca Mule Race, Show & Draft Horse Challenge.

Idaho Gem covered his 350-yard sprint Saturday in 21.817 seconds, winning by 1 1/4 lengths over five rivals.

Idaho Star was less than three hundredths of a second faster, finishing in 21.790 seconds to win by a half length over four competitors.

“For both to win first, it is awesome,” said Don Jacklin, an Idaho businessman who helped finance the cloning project. “I think it is going to open a lot of eyes as far as cloning. I think the race experience will go a long way to show what cloning can do.”

The clones were born three years ago and carry identical DNA taken from a fetus produced by the same parents that sired a champion mule racer.

Researchers on the cloning team said the mules have been separated for two years and trained separately, so watching how they perform against each other will offer insight into the role played by environmental variables, such as diet and training regimens, in developing mules.