TheHorse.com will have additional in-depth coverage of the Thoroughbred Genetics, Pedigree, and Performance Conference in the coming weeks. Check back soon for additional information.

If there was a take-home message from the first day of the Thoroughbred Genetics, Pedigree, and Performance Conference Sept. 7, it was: Genetics currently is one of many tools to use for breeding horses, and given advances in science, it could be much more accepted in the future–but nothing is perfect.

The two-day Lexington, Ky., conference, co-sponsored by Pedigree Consultants and Blood-Horse Publications, brought together advances in science and the tradition of pedigree research. While the two sometimes clash, attendees found the two may have more in common than is believed.

Bill Oppenheim, an analyst, journalist, and consultant, said there is far more chaos than order in the Thoroughbred breeding industry, and that probably won’t change. He said breeders can attempt to identify success, but there is no way to know when lightning will strike–or the sky will fall