Eric Palmer, founder of Cryozootech, holds on to cloned foal Pieraz-Cryozootech-Stallion in a field near Cremona, Italy, April 14, 2005.

The foal, born on Feb. 25, 2005, is the first horse clone produced from a castrated endurance champion, Pieraz, winner of the endurance world championships in Den Haag, Netherlands, in 1994 and again in Fort Riley, U.S., in 1996, with the purpose of preserving the genetic heritage of the champion.

The cloning was made by an Italian company, Ltr-Ciz, using the nuclear transfer technique on cells provided by France's Cryozootech.