Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T00:48:59.024Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Do racehorses and Greyhound dogs exhibit a gender difference in running speed?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2007

Pauline Entin
Pauline Entin*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Box 5640, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA
*
*Corresponding author: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

At any level of competition, men run faster than women. Consequently, a male speed advantage is often presumed for other species. This assumption was tested in two animals bred for speed: horses and dogs. Results from Thoroughbred (TB), Standardbred (STB) and Greyhound (GH) races were analysed by ANOVA to compare the speeds of victorious males, neutered males (TB and STB only) and females. Separate analyses were run for shorter (TB: ≤ 1609 m, GH: 503 m) and longer (TB: >1609 m, GH: 603.5 m) TB and GH races. All STB races (trotters and pacers) were 1609 m. In TB races, intact males were 0.7% faster than females at ≤ 1609 m (n = 305; P < 0.01) and 1.4% faster at >1609 m (n = 194; P < 0.01). The speed of neutered males was equivalent to that of females at both distances. Gender accounted for 3.8 and 10.7% of the variance in speed at short and long distances, respectively. In STB pacers, intact males were 1.5% faster than females and gender accounted for 10.1% of the variance in speed (n = 96; P < 0.01). Gender was not a significant predictor of STB trotter (n = 95) or GH speed at 503 m (n = 146) or 603.5 m (n = 23). In conclusion, gender has a significant effect on speed of TBs and STB pacers. Although the effect size is small, it may be significant for racing; in a 7 furlong (1408 m) TB race, the 0.7% difference translates to an advantage of several lengths.

Keywords

dog racingThoroughbredStandardbredsexual dimorphismsex differencemaximum aerobic capacity
Type
Research Papers
Information
Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology , Volume 4 , Issue 3-4 , November 2007 , pp. 135 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Stone, CP (1935). Sex difference in the running ability of thoroughbred horses. Journal of Comparative Psychology 19: 59–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2Buttram, ST, Willham, RL and Wilson, DE (1988). Genetics of racing performance in the American Quarter Horse: II Adjustment factors and contemporary groups. Journal of Animal Science 66: 2800–2807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3Miles, DB (2004). The race goes to the swift: fitness consequences of variation in sprint performance in juvenile lizards. Evolutionary Ecology Research 6: 63–75.Google Scholar
4Cullum, AJ (1998). Sexual dimorphism in physiological performance of whiptail lizards (genus Cnemidophorus). Physiological Zoology 71(5): 541–552.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Miles, DB, Snell, HL and Snell, HM (2001). Intrapopulation variation in endurance of Galapagos lava lizards (Microlophus albemarlensis): evidence for an interaction between natural and sexual selection. Evolutionary Ecology Research 3: 795–804.Google Scholar
6Lailvaux, SP, Alexander, GJ and Whiting, MJ (2003). Sex-based differences and similarities in locomotor performance, thermal preferences, and escape behaviour in the lizard Platysaurus intermedius wilhelmi. Physiological and Biochemical Zoology 76: 511–521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Rowland, T, Goff, D, Martel, L and Ferrone, L (2000). Influence of cardiac functional capacity on gender differences in maximal oxygen uptake in children. Chest 117: 629–635.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Zhou, B, Conlee, RK, Jensen, R, Fellingham, GW, George, JD and Fisher, AG (2001). Stroke volume does not plateau during graded exercise in elite male distance runners. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 22(11): 1849–1854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Kearns, CF, McKeever, KH, Kumagai, K and Abe, T (2002). Fat-free mass is related to one-mile race performance in elite Standardbred horses. Veterinary Journal 163: 260–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Gauvreau, GM, Staempfli, H, McCutcheon, LJ, Young, SS and McDonell, WN (1995). Comparison of aerobic capacity between racing Standardbred horses. Journal of Applied Physiology 78(4): 1447–1451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Paavolainen, LM, Nummela, AT and Rusko, HK (1999). Neuromuscular characteristics and muscle power as determinants of 5-km running performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 31(1): 124–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12Wiswell, RA, Jaque, SV, Marcell, TJ, Hawkins, SA, Tarpenning, KM, Constantino, N and Hyslop, M (2000). Maximal aerobic power, lactate threshold, and running performance in master athletes. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 32(6): 1165–1170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Butts, NK, Henry, BA and Mclean, D (1991). Correlations between VO2max and performance times of recreational triathletes. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 31(3): 339–344.Google ScholarPubMed
14Billat, V, Beillot, J, Jan, J, Rochcongar, P and Carre, F (1996). Gender effect on the relationship of time limit at 100% VO2max with other bioenergetic characteristics. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 28(8): 1049–1055.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Jensen, K, Johansen, L and Secher, NH (2001). Influence of body mass on maximal oxygen uptake: effect of sample size. European Journal of Applied Physiology 84: 201–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Wiebe, CG, Gledhill, N, Warburton, DE, Jamnik, VK and Ferguson, S (1998). Exercise cardiac function in endurance-trained males versus females. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine 8(4): 272–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17Hutchinson, PL, Cureton, KJ, Outz, H and Wilson, G (1991). Relationship of cardiac size to maximal oxygen uptake and body size in men and women. International Journal of Sports Medicine 12(4): 369–373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18LeMura, LM, von Duvillard, SP, Cohen, SL, Root, CJ, Chelland, SA, Andreacci, J, Hoover, J and Weatherford, J (2001). Treadmill and cycle ergometry testing in 5- to 6-year-old children. European Journal of Applied Physiology 85: 472–478.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19Lauten, SD, Cox, NR, Brawner, WR and Baker, HJ (2001). Use of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry for noninvasive body composition measurements in clinically normal dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research 62(8): 1295–1301.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20Gee, EK, Fennessy, PF, Morel, PC, Grace, ND, Firth, EC and Mogg, TD (2003). Chemical body composition of 20 Thoroughbred foals at 160 days or age, and preliminary investigation of techniques used to predict body fatness. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 51(3): 125–131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Kearns, CF, McKeever, KH and Abe, T (2002). Overview of horse body composition and muscle architecture: implications for performance. Veterinary Journal 164: 224–234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22Sparling, PB and Cureton, KJ (1983). Biological determinants of the sex difference in 12-min run performance. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 15(3): 218–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Poole, DC (2004). Current concepts of oxygen transport during exercise. Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology 1(1): 5–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Young, LE, Rogers, K and Wood, JLN (2005). Left ventricular size and systolic function in Thoroughbred racehorses and their relationships to race performance. Journal of Applied Physiology 99: 1278–1285.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25Schoning, P, Erickson, H and Milliken, GA (1995). Body weight, heart weight, and heart-to-body weight ratio in greyhounds. American Journal of Veterinary Research 56(4): 420–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Young, LE, Marlin, DJ, Deaton, C, Brown-Feltner, H, Roberts, CA and Wood, JL (2002). Heart size estimated by echocardiography correlates with maximal oxygen uptake. Equine Veterinary Journal Supplement 34: 467–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27Marchi, D, Sparacello, VS, Holt, BM and Formicola, V (2006). Biomechanical approach to the reconstruction of activity patterns in Neolithic Western Liguria, Italy. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 131: 447–455.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28Aiello, LC and Key, C (2002). Energetic consequences of being a homo erectus female. American Journal of Human Biology 14: 551–565.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed