AUSTIN -- Barrel racer Charmayne James knew scientists had figured out how to clone mice, sheep and cats. So six years ago she decided that if any creature deserved to be cloned, it was her gelding Scamper, the retired 10-time world champion.

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Charmayne James and Scamper

The result, Clayton, has exceeded James’ expectations. The foal even bristles, just like Scamper, when touched on a certain spot behind his ear.

“Scamper was one of the greatest horses ever, and I know that now more than ever,” James said. “I wanted to get in and save his genetics, because if they were ever able to clone a horse, Scamper would be the horse to clone.”

James paid an Austin-based company $150,000 to clone Scamper.  After four failed attempts, Clayton was born Aug. 8. His birth had been kept secret until Wednesday.

Clayton was created by ViaGen, an Austin-based company that specializes in animal genetics. Genetic material was extracted from a cell sample taken from Scamper, then transferred to an egg. The genetic material in the host egg had been removed. An embryo was grown in an incubator before it was transferred to a mare.

The foal is almost identical to the older model, except for white markings between Clayton’s eyes.

“He looks so much like Scamper, when I walked into the stall and looked at him, the hair on the back of my neck stood up,” she said. Both are confident and ornery except for their affection for little girls, said James, who met Scamper when she was 11.

Scamper won a record 10 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association world championships from 1984 to ‘93 and helped make James the first million-dollar cowgirl and the all-time leading money winner in barrel racing. Scamper is the only barrel racing horse in the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

“He won 10 world titles in a row,” said Tony Garritano, James’ husband and business manager. “Michael Jordan has not even done that. Tiger Woods has not done that. It gives you an idea of how unique and how great this horse really was.”

James, who lives in Athens, Texas, plans to breed Clayton for future barrel racing horses and to “help people get better, sounder quality barrel horses out there.”

For now, James has no plans to race Clayton. He’s “too valuable to take a chance of him getting hurt.”

The PRCA has no limits on using cloned horses in competition, but Clayton wouldn’t be allowed in any events sponsored by the American Quarter Horse Association. The organization does not register horses that are cloned or their offspring.