And Nearly Three Decades On -- More Mammalian Cloning Controversies... Polo Ponies -- This Time.

In the sweet, silly movie "Notting Hill", Hugh Grant pretends to be a journalist for "Horse & Hound" -- in order to spend a few moments in a faux-interview with Julia Roberts (playing a movie star spending the Summer in London, on a shoot). Zany situations -- as ever -- seem to result.

Well, it turns out that there really is a UK magazine called "Horse & Hound", and it features a story (sort of a "Pandora's Box" follow-up on the Dolly story I posted over the weekend). It seems that cloned polo ponies sell for upwards of $800,000 -- and thus ruin friendships, when secretly stolen or re-cloned without proper intellectual property licenses / payments. Who knew?! Read on:

. . .The case focuses on clones of Cambiaso’s most successful horse, Dolfina Cuartetera -- ranked first in Argentina’s Polo Hall of Fame – who died in May 2023, at the age of 22. Several of her clones have gone on to compete at the highest level, featuring in the prestigious Argentine Triple Crown. Among Cambiaso and his son Adolfo “Poroto” Cambiaso’s top mounts are Cuartetera clones B06 and B09.

The lawsuit alleged that Cambiaso’s longtime business partner, Alan Meeker, secretly sold Cuartetera’s clones to a rival polo team without his knowledge, despite their decade-long partnership. The claims included breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Polo remains the most accepting equestrian sport when it comes to cloning; Argentina imposes few regulations and no restrictions on the number of cloned ponies allowed in competition -- leaving teams and breeders to set their own rules. . . .

Meeker and Cambiaso included a three-month-old Cuartetera clone in a high-profile auction, who sold for $800,000 – the highest price ever paid for a polo horse. The buyers were a partnership led by Argentinian businessman and amateur polo player Ernesto Gutiérrez, a close friend of Cambiaso. Meeker and Cambiaso included a three-month-old Cuartetera clone in a high-profile auction, who sold for $800,000 -- the highest price ever paid for a polo horse. . . .

[F]ollowing a nine-day jury trial in May 2024, Cambiaso’s legal team – Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP (WTO) – demonstrated that Meeker had secretly sold Cuartetera clones to an unnamed Russian businessman for $800,000 each, with additional sales planned. . . .

I doubt most people would have seen this story, absent my prompting -- so enjoy. That said, I am fairly certain that the cloned ponies suffer from some genetic defects, as a result of being cloned and re-cloned. And as a rule, it seems. . . less than ethical. But who am I to judge? Anyhoo -- here's that opening scene -- quite the charmer, that Mr. Grant:



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