AS reported elsewhere in this week’s edition, there were two important Group 1 races run at Kenilworth last weekend, the Queen’s Plate and the Paddock Stakes. Both were won by horses with tenuous connections to Ireland.

Do It Again (Twice Over) will tackle one of South Africa’s most prestigious races next week when he lines up for the Group 1 Met, and he will be attempting the near-impossible, that of adding the Met to victories in the Queen’s Plate and the Durban July. The last time it was achieved was some four decades ago.

The now dual Group 1 winner is from the first crop of Twice Over, a son of Observatory (Distant View), who was trained by Henry Cecil to win 12 races including two Champion Stakes, a Coral Eclipse and the Juddmonte International. That initial crop also contained Sand And Sea who carried the colours of Investec boss Bernard Kantor, instrumental in Twice Over standing in South Africa, to land the Group 1 Tsogo Sun Gold Medallion over six furlongs as a two-year-old in early 2017.

Twice Over is responsible for three stakes winners, two of them Group 1 scorers, and he stands at Klawervlei Stud. He is from one of the many successful families developed by Juddmonte and he raced until the age of seven. He was a stakes winning two-year-old, landing the Zetland Stakes, before going on to enjoy international acclaim, and he was multiple Group and Grade 1 placed.

His dam Double Crossed (Caerleon) is a listed wining half-sister to Clepsydra (Sadler’s Wells) and her nine wining offspring include Timepiece (Zamindar), winner of the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes, and Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Passage Of Time (Dansili), who in turn is the dam of Time Test (Dubawi), standing at the National Stud in Newmarket and whose first foals are due this spring.

On the dam side of the family, Do It Again is from a line firmly rooted in South Africa. He is out of the Group 3 Winter Derby, Group 3 Winter Classic and Group 3 Final Fling Stakes winner Sweet Virginia, an outstanding runner from the first crop of stakes winner Casey Tibbs (Sadler’s Wells) who was trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld and ran second in the Grade 1 Secretariat Stakes in the USA.

Casey Tibbs enjoyed success as a Klawervlei sire and died in 2013 at the age of 19. He was a consistent sire of stakes performers, known for producing tough stock capable of winning over any distance. He got off to a good start and his first crop included seven stakes horses. However, he found getting Group 1 winners tough, though his best runner ever was the ill-fated champion Big City Life.

This magnificent colt won four Group 1 races, including the Vodacom Durban July, Cape Derby and Daily News 2000. He also beat the mighty Pocket Power in the Group 1 Gold Challenge, but tragically suffered a fatal injury in the 2011 Vodacom Durban July. Big City Life was named Equus Champion Three-Year-Old colt in 2009.

Do It Again is the second stakes winner for Sweet Virginia and she is responsible also for Strongman (Stronghold) who is a nine-time winner to date, up to Group 3 level. Sweet Virginia is by some way the best of the four winners from the unraced Millie Bovana (Royal Prerogative) and she is a full-sister to the Group 1 Lancome Handicap winner Mill Hill who collected the Germiston November Handicap, also a Group 1, and ran second in the Group 1 Fillies Guineas.

The Irish-bred Street Cry (Machiavellian) was born on September 17th, 2014 and this was just a fortnight before his daughter Oh Susanna was foaled in Australia. Bred by Drakenstein Stud, home to stallions such as Trippi (End Sweep), Duke Of Marmalade (Danehill) and What A Winter (Western Winter), Oh Susanna won the Group 1 Met last year and is in good form to defend her crown this year. In 2018 she was the only three-year-old filly in the race and put her weight allowance to good use, landing the first prize of nearly €350,000.

Oh Susanna is the best of four winners for Sharp Susan, a daughter of Touch Gold (Deputy Minister). Half of that mare’s six wins in the USA were gained in stakes races and they included the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Hercomethebride Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

This $340,000 yearling was sold at the end of her racing career for $2 million. She was covered by A.P.Indy (Seattle Slew) and what a disappointment it was when the resulting colt sold for $60,000 as a yearling, though he realised $425,000 as a breezer. He won seven races and was graded-placed.

Sent to Australia, Oh Susanna was bought by Badgers Bloodstock for $1.05 million in 2012 and she has most recently travelled to Europe, producing a filly by Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) in 2018 and then being covered by Frankel (Galileo). Sharp Susan is a half-sister to Grade 1 Donn Handicap winner Spring At Last, also winner of the Group 2 Godolphin Mile in the UAE, and to Grade 1 Las Virgenes winner Sharp Lisa (Dixieland Band). That mare has since bred Group 1 The Metropolitan winner Foundry (Galileo) and Group 3 winner and classic-placed Housesofparliament (Galileo).