| Special Duty | |
|---|---|
.svg) French racing colours of Khalid Abdullah | |
| Sire | Hennessy |
| Grandsire | Storm Cat |
| Dam | Quest to Peak |
| Damsire | Distant View |
| Sex | Mare |
| Foaled | 12 February 2007 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Juddmonte Farms |
| Owner | Khalid Abdulla |
| Trainer | Criquette Head-Maarek |
| Record | 10: 4-2-1 |
| Earnings | £722,059 |
| Major wins | |
| Prix Robert Papin (2009) Cheveley Park Stakes (2009) 1000 Guineas (2010) Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (2010) | |
| Awards | |
| European Champion Two-year-old Filly (2009) | |
Special Duty (foaled 12 February 2007) is a British-bred, French-trained championThoroughbred racehorse andbroodmare. She won two of her four starts as a two-year-old including theGroup OneCheveley Park Stakes and the Group TwoPrix Robert Papin and was namedEuropean Champion Two-year old Filly at the Cartier Racing Awards. As a three-year-old she recorded a rare double when taking theBritish Classic1000 Guineas atNewmarket and its French equivalent, thePoule d'Essai des Pouliches atLongchamp. What made the achievement more unusual was that in both classics she crossed the line in second place and was awarded the victory following a disqualification.[1]
Special Duty is a chestnut mare with a whiteblaze bred in Britain by her owner,Khalid Abdulla'sJuddmonte Farms. She was sired by the American stallionHennessy, whose other progeny includedJohannesburg,Grande Armee andHenny Hughes.[2] Special Duty's dam, theKentucky-bred Quest to Peak, made no impression as a racehorse, but was a sister ofSightseek and a half-sister of Tates Creek (Yellow Ribbon Stakes). As a descendant of the British mare Rosary, Special Duty came from the same branch of Thoroughbred Family 23-b which producedTim Tam,Winning Colors andChief's Crown.[3] The filly was sent into training withCriquette Head-Maarek atChantilly and was ridden in all her wins byStéphane Pasquier.
Special Duty made her debut in theListed Prix Yacowlef over 1000m atDeauville in July. She started odds-on favourite but was hampered[4] at the start and finished second, beaten one and a half lengths by Sorciere, a filly who went on to win thePrix d'Arenberg. Three weeks later she was moved up to Group Two class for the Prix Robert Papin over 1100m atMaisons-Laffitte. She showed her inexperience ("ran green"[5]) in the early stages but took the lead in the closing stages and was ridden out by Pasquier to defeat the odds-on favourite Siyouni by one and a half lengths. After the race, Head-Maarek described Special Duty as "a progressive type who could go on to better things".[6] In October Siyouni won thePrix Jean-Luc Lagardère, France's most prestigious race for two-year-olds. A month later, Special Duty was matched against the unbeaten English coltsCanford Cliffs and Arcano in thePrix Morny at Deauville. Pasquier sent the filly to the front from the start and she held the lead until she was caught in the last strides and beaten a short neck by Arcano in a blanket finish.
In October, Special Duty was sent overseas for the first time to contest the Group One Cheveley Park Stakes over sixfurlongs at Newmarket in England. She was made3/1 second favourite behind the British-trainedLady of the Desert who had won thePrincess Margaret Stakes and theLowther Stakes. As in the Morny, Special Duty led from the start but a furlong from the finish she was headed by Lady of the Desert. In the closing stages however, Special Duty regained the advantage and pulled clear to win by two and three quarter lengths from Misheer, who beat Lady of the Desert by a head for second place.[7] TheIrish Independent described Special Duty's performance as "scintillating" and Head-Maarek, who was recording her fourth win in the race, praised Pasquier for riding a "beautiful race".[8] The Britishbookmakers made the filly8/1 favourite for the following year's 1000 Guineas.[9]
On her three-year-old debut, Special Duty started odd-on favourite for the Group ThreePrix Imprudence at Maisons-Laffitte on 8 April. Racing on very soft ground she led until 300m from the finish before finishing third to Joanna and Evading Tempete. Despite her defeat, Special Duty started 9/2 favourite in a field of seventeen runners for the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on 2 May. On the wide, straight Rowley Mile course, the field split into two groups, with Special Duty restrained by Pasquier at the back of the group on the stands' (left) side. In the final quarter mile,Tom Queally sent the 66/1 outsider Jacqueline Quest into the lead on the stands side from Sent From Heaven and the Irish filly Gile Na Greine as Pasquier made rapid progress on the favourite. In the closing stages Special Duty moved up to challenge Jacqueline Quest but was carried out into the centre of the course as the outsider hung badly to the right. The photo-finish showed that Jacqueline Quest had won by a nose from Special Duty, with Gile Na Greine a head away in third but the racecourse stewards immediately called an inquiry. After ten minutes of deliberation they took the view that the interference caused by the "winner" had affected the result of the race[10] and awarded the victory to Special Duty.[11] Jacqueline Quest's trainerHenry Cecil admitted that the decision was "probably" a fair one.[12]
Two weeks after her win at Newmarket, Special Duty attempted to add the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, a race sometimes known in English-speaking countries as the French 1,000 Guineas. Few fillies had attempted the double and only Imprudence (1947),Miesque (1987) andRavinella (1988) had succeeded. Special Duty started favourite ahead of Joanna and theAga Khan's Rosanara. With many fillies held up for late challenges and struggling to obtain clear runs, the closing stages of the race were extremely rough. Pasquier only found racing room in the last 200m and although Special Duty finished strongly, she failed by a head to catch Liliside. Barely a length separated the first six fillies.[13] A "complicated"[14] stewards' inquiry found that Liliside had bumped Full Steam when making her challenge and interfered with Lady of the Desert in the closing stages. Liliside was relegated to sixth place, giving the win to Special Duty.[15]
Special Duty failed to reproduce her best form in three remaining starts. In July she returned to Newmarket for theFalmouth Stakes, but weakened in the closing stages to finish seventh of the eight runners behind Music Show. In this race she was partnered by Tom Queally, Pasquier having been injured in a fall. She produced a slightly better effort when reunited with Pasquier in October at Longchamp where she ran sixth toGoldikova in thePrix de la Forêt. On her final appearance she was sent toCalifornia where she finished last of the seven runners in theMatriarch Stakes atHollywood Park.[16]
Special Duty was namedEuropean Champion Two-year-old filly at theCartier Racing Awards in November 2009.[17] In January 2010, she was ranked the best two-year-old filly of 2009 in Europe by the International Classification, with a rating of 117.[18]
Having run her last race in California, Special Duty remained in the United States and was covered byTapit in 2011.[19] Her 2012 filly sired by Tapit, South Bank, was trained in France and finished second in thePrix Yacowlef in 2015. Special Duty has produced foals by Bernardini (2013), Tapit (2014) and First Defense (2015).[20]
| Sire Hennessy (USA) 1993 | Storm Cat 1983 | Storm Bird | Northern Dancer |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Ocean | |||
| Terlngua | Secretariat | ||
| Crimson Saint | |||
| Island Kitty 1976 | Hawaii | Utrillo | |
| Ethane | |||
| T. C. Kitten | Tom Cat | ||
| Needlebug | |||
| Dam Quest to Peak (USA) 2002 | Distant View 1991 | Mr. Prospector | Raise a Native |
| Gold Digger | |||
| Seven Springs | Irish River | ||
| La Trinite | |||
| Viviana 1990 | Nureyev | Northern Dancer | |
| Special | |||
| Nijinsky Star | Nijinsky | ||
| Chris Evert (Family: 23-b)[3] |