THE Michael Halford-trained Iontas ran at Dundalk last week and, while she has yet to stamp herself as noteworthy in her 10 starts to date, she is a rarity in racing in that she is a twin.

Breeders and veterinary surgeons usually do everything in their power to avoid twins being born. Falling pregnant with twins is a disaster for any thoroughbred mare. More often than not, the mare will abort both pregnancies quite early on. If a mare manages to carry the pregnancies to birth, most mares will not survive the two foalings. If the mare successfully carries and delivers twins that survive birth, it is typically expected that at least one if not both of the twins will be notably undersized, lengthening their odds of survival and making them very little practical value even if they do survive.

For those reasons, when mares are being scanned for pregnancy 15 days or so after covering, the veterinary surgeon will go looking for twin pregnancies and, if they find them, they will abort one of the pregnancies at that very early stage with the intention of leaving just one pregnancy in the uterus.

However, despite the best efforts of veterinary surgeons, sometimes twins do slip under the radar, usually with predictably negative results. Mind, there have been some rare and famous cases of twins going on to defy the odds and make a significant impact.

Perhaps the most famous twins in the history of the thoroughbred breed were Stop On Red and Go On Green. Born in 1959 in America, they won seven races each on the track, but Stop On Green gained even more renown as the grandam of Spectacular Bid, a champion two-year-old who went on to win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

To bring it back to Iontas, her story started off tragically, as her mother Poetry In Motion (the dam of the smart Sesmen) lost her life during the births. However, the two foals that she was carrying, a colt and a filly by Invincible Spirit, not only survived but both of them were strong enough to make the yearling sales and run as two-year-olds.

While the well-named Iontas (the Irish word for “surprise”) has yet to really threaten the judge, her twin brother Fiftyshadesdarker has gone very close to winning in England for George Baker. Whether or not Iontas can get her head in front, history has taught us that being a twin is no barrier to a successful broodmare career and her story is worth keeping an eye on.