Investigation of what radiographic lesions in thoroughbred yearlings are significant in limiting future racing performance

Yearling radiographic repositories are an important part of the sale of horses. Sets of radiographs on yearlings submitted to sale are available for registered veterinarians to review at the request of potential buyers prior to the lot entering the sales ring. There can be debate on what a particular lesion seen on a particular radiograph might by interpreted amongst veterinarians. Often these decisions and the report to the potential buyers are based heavily on opinion and individual experience with potential limitations due to a lack of clear reported data to inform these decisions. These reports can have significant impact on the potential sale price of these yearlings. As a result, an improved understanding of what radiographic lesions might mean for the longer-term performance potential of these yearlings would be beneficial and be reassuring to the industry. This research group is composed of highly experienced members of the veterinary industry with involvement in yearling repository radiography specifically. Importantly, it also allows access to large groups of radiographic images of yearlings presented to yearling sales that have radiographic interpretations by a small group of highly experienced reviewers. As such after compilation of these reports, subsets will be reviewed by the expert panel of this research group to ensure agreement between the previous reports and the reviews of this panel. Then the future performance of the yearlings will be analysed related to future performance to inform future interpretation.