A 2-year-old horse strapped with a GPS-aided sensor to monitor its speed and heartbeat ran a 1,500-meter lap on a farm in Urakawa, Hokkaido, a town famous for producing racehorses, earlier this year.

Monitoring the animal via PC at Chestnut Farm, Toru Hirose, 53, was intrigued with the young prospect.

"This is interesting," he said as he reviewed the horse's data, which showed it had a pulse of 183 beats per minute and an average speed of 47 kph. "This heart rate may be too high at this speed."