THE profile of South African racing has risen considerably in the past two decades, and although Intense Tango is a British-born daughter of an Irish stallion, she has strong South African pedigree connections.

The Karl Burke-trained four-year-old caught the eye at Doncaster last Saturday when beating her elders in the Grade 2 OLBG.com Mares’ Hurdle (registered as the Doncaster Mares’ Hurdle) over two miles, 110 yards.

This was her second win from three starts over obstacles, she was listed-placed at Aintree on her National Hunt debut, and before that notched up a 12-furlong Haydock handicap success among eight starts on the flat.

She was bred by Newsells Park Stud, she represents the first crop of the multiple Group 1 star and now dual classic sire Mastercraftsman (by Danehill Dancer), and she is out of the Grade 1-placed, dual South African Grade 2 scorer Cover Look.

That mare, a daughter of the recently deceased Group 1 winner and leading South African sire Fort Wood (by Sadler’s Wells), is also the dam of the Group 3 Sagaro Stakes winner Shipmaster (by Slip Anchor), and of the four-times successful Paquerettza (by Dr Fong).

Her dam Fanciful (by Ringaro) is Argentinian-bred but raced in South Africa where her string of pattern wins included the Grade 1 Xerox Copier Fillies & Mares Challenge at Gosforth Park and the Grade 1 Bar Valley Classic at Milnerton.

Cover Look was her only blacktype scorer among eight winning foals, but two of her other daughters have produced stakes winners at stud.

The third dam of Intense Tango is called Imaginada (by Good Manners) and that four-times scorer has the distinction of being one of those mares who has produced two individual Group/Grade 1 winners at stud as, in addition to Fanciful, her son Radical (by Perello) won the Grade 1 Gran Premio Gran Criterium at San Isidro, in Argentina, as a juvenile.

Intense Tango appears to have found her forte as a racehorse, and it will be interesting to see what heights she can achieve. It may also be worth following her eventual career as a broodmare as she is a horse whose pedigree could see her excel in either code, flat or National Hunt.