She entered the history books in 2003 when she was unveiled as the world's first horse clone, one that offered a way to preserve the genetic heritage of many exceptional horses whose genes are presently lost because champion geldings are castrated.

"During these five years Prometea has been in very good health and often at the centre of media attention," says her creator, Prof Cesare Galli of the Laboratory of Reproductive Technologies in Cremona.

"The ultimate proof of her normality has just come with the birth of Pegaso, on March the 17th 2008, after a single insemination with the semen of the Haflinger stallion Abendfurst."

Pegaso has special significance in racing because sporting horses are castrated at a young age. "When they become adult and demonstrate to be champion horses, they are unable to reproduce and it is therefore impossible to obtain the next generation: the champion's offspring," says Prof Galli.

advertisement"This is a bitter reality that clashes with the driving principle of animal breeding and selection that is based on the reproduction of superior individuals to pursue genetic improvement of the breed.

"Therefore, today, horse cloning is simply an assisted reproduction technique that allows us to obtain copies/clones of castrated champion horses and finally, from these clones, the champion's offspring that otherwise would never be born."

Prof Galli showed the technology could revolutionise blood stock breeding when he unveiled a cloned foal of Pieraz, an Arab endurance champion, in 2005.

He has cloned cattle and pigs too, and worked with human embryo cells, which led to him being excommunicated by the Catholic Church, even though he did not himself destroy embryos but used embryonic stem cells that had been derived in other countries.

Prof Galli first encountered problems with the authorities when he unveiled Galileo, Italy's first cloned bull, which was confiscated by Italy's Health Ministry.

"After having being nearly arrested by police for having cloned Galileo, the bull, I think I can bear the excommunication," he said at the time. "I suppose I will not need a criminal lawyer for that like in the days of the bull Galileo, though it will be same fun and much cheaper."

Dr Eric Palmer, a pioneer of equine IVF, has set up a company, Cryozootech, in Evry, France, to "rescue" gelding genetics.