As breeders, our goal is to infuse our offspring with as much “ability” as possible. In Breeding Algo 1.0, the only ability a ZED horse passed was Base Ability. Think of this as a normalized mean speed. Distance preference adds/subtracts speed on either side of 1600m (the original mid-distance before 2400 and 2600 were later added) so isolating BA from DP was our original goal. This is easier said than done and we’ve gone to great lengths to not only build the models for normalized mean speed, but extensive logic to use the difference between long and short distance ability to approximate BA when that’s all we have.
Easy enough. But that all changed when Breeding Algo 2.0 was released in Mid-March 2022. A ZED horse has three main racing traits and all three are now “passed” in the new breeding algo: variance, distance preference, and base ability. We also know ancestors genes are passed, and while we have an idea of how often that happens, we’re still waiting on more data to come in.
The Tool
The Zedge was originally created for me:) With Base Ability the only trait passed and nowhere that actually tried to quantify it, I wanted a tool that would do so, and let me filter and sort horses in the stud barn and those for sale on OS or Hawku (only Hawku now, of course!).
With the Algo change, the tool has taken on new life and I believe is the most essential tool in ZED for making breeding decisions (both purchasing and stud choices). Today, we’re not only quantifying all three racing traits, we’re constantly adding tools/data to help you dive even deeper into these horses and make the best decisions for your stable.
In the next section, we’ll break down our current understanding of Algo 2.0 and the most recent ways we’re quantifying these metrics for you. We’re super psyched you’re here checking us out, and always around Discord to clarify further!
Major thanks to cryptog and Hawku for allowing us to utilize their data to make this possible.
Next: Racing Traits Metrics
If you have any questions about the data or the tool, please join The Zedge discord and/or hunt me down @Shady Lane | The Zedge#9121
