Romeo, a promising thoroughbred stallion, was recently retired to stud. His first seven foals have just completed their maiden races, averaging 2.

a.    Romeo, a promising thoroughbred stallion, was recently retired to stud. His first seven foals have just completed their maiden races, averaging 2.0 seconds faster than their contemporary group means.

                                     i.    Use a single-source selection index to predict Romeo's breeding value for racing time. (Assume h2 = 0.36) (1pt)

                                   ii.    Calculate accuracy of prediction. (0.5 pts)

b.    Aragorn, the old champion, has sired 119 foals. They have run, on average, 5.3 races apiece, averaging one second faster than contemporary group means.

                                     i.    Predict Aragorn's breeding value for racing time. (Assume h2 = 0.36 and r=0.55) (1pt)

                                   ii.    Calculate accuracy of prediction.

c.    Why is Aragorn's EBV better than Romeo's even though Romeo's offspring have run faster than Aragorn's? (1pt)

d.    All else being equal, which sire would you use? Why?

Please answer a i and ii and b i and ii and c and d