Idaho Gem, the world’s first cloned equine, is about to make his racing debut along with his duplicate copy–Idaho Star, another clone created from the same genetic material.

Born in 2003, the identical 3-year-old “miracle mules”–believed to be the first clones to ever compete in an athletic event–will make their first starts in Winnemucca, Nev., June 3-4 during time trials for the upcoming summer fair season. Then, they head to the San Joaquin County Fair in Stockton, Calif., where they will race each other along with other mules in the kickoff of California’s fair circuit in late June.

“They’re boringly normal,” said Dr. Gordon Woods, a member of the University of Idaho mule cloning project, as he watched the mules work over the Stockton track in a May 19 preview. “They’ve been the perfect picture of health since birth.”

Both clones are closely related to retired world champion Taz, now 12 years old and best known for his battles with Black Ruby. The dark bay mules along with a cloned triplet named Utah Pioneer, who is headed for a career as a pack animal, were created from fetal skin cells taken from what would have been Taz’s full brother. The sire is the Spanish donkey Coalee McGee, and the Quarter Horse dam is Mesmerizer. The clones were implanted and delivered by three surrogate mothers