DOUBLE QUICK TWICE AS FAST

February - March 2007

Whoever named Double Quick [IRE] certainly had some premonition regarding her blazing speed! Bred by the construction firm of A. J. Poulton (Epping) Ltd., the daughter of sprint sire Superpower made the first of her three appearances in a sale ring when sent up as a weanling to the Goffs December Sale of 1992. The bidding reached only 450 Irish Guineas, a figure that evidently did not satisfy her vendor, for she was bought in.

Just over nine months later, she fared even worse as a yearling, failing to elicit even a single bid at the Goffs September Yearling Sale! The vendor's agony ended on 7th February 1994 when Ronald W. Huggins took her over at auction for a mere 2,000 Irish Guineas.

Named Double Quick [IRE], the two-year-old was sent to the stables of Neil McGrath at The Curragh, and in just over two months the latter had her ready to go. Over 5 furlongs, she made all on heavy going at her home track and scored on debut in April 1994, literally earning a “double quick” return! Later that season, she was relocated to Mark Johnston in England, who placed her to win a nursery at Newmarket, also over the minimum distance.

Making a further 25 starts over the next three years, the tough sprinter added four more scurries to her tally, one of which was the prestigious Listed event, the Vodafone Dash at Epsom, the day after Lammtarra had kept his unbeaten record intact in the 1995 Epsom Derby. In all, she earned £ 75,334, not a bad dividend for the modest investment!

International breeders display scant interest in maiden daughters of Superpower, and so Claremount Stud Farm (an associate enterprise of the Manjri Stud) was able to acquire Double Quick [IRE], who was shipped out to India as a filly out-of-training. Her first three foals were all above average, with one of them, Exploding Wonder, earning over Rs. 13 lakhs; however it was not till her fifth foal, a chestnut son of Major Impact came along in 2003 that she produced a top-notcher.

DOUBLE QUICK

Diabolical, as he was named, was quickly snapped up by Dr. M. A. M. Ramaswamy as a yearling, and entrusted to Dallas Todywalla, who sent him out to his debut win and a runner-up effort in the Mahalakshmi Juvenile Million before the gelding was transferred to the yard of S. Ganapathy. Double Quick [IRE]'s son has lived up to his early promise and has developed into one of the top three males of his generation as his recent annihilation of 6 rivals in the Golconda 2000 Guineas shows.

The handsome chestnut once again demonstrates the valuable talent pool of quality bloodlines available in Germany. His fourth dam, Gestut Zoppenbroich's Ordenstreue, was champion 3-y-o filly in that country in 1966, and annexed the German Oaks equivalent, the Preis der Diana, at Mulheim, and several other leading events for her sex.

After a stint in the US, Ordenstreue came into the hands of champion French trainer, the legendary Francois Mathet, who was a significant breeder as well. He named all his home-bred colts with the prefix “Dom” and fillies with “Marie de” (hence Marie d'Avesnes [FR], the dam of Pearl River). Ordenstreue's best offspring was her 1974 son by Sassafras. Dom Alaric was a fine performer in both continental Europe and North America, with wins in the Grand Prix de Deauville (Gr.2), and the Riggs Handicap (Gr.3), and runner-up efforts in the Canadian International Championship (Gr.1), and the United Nations Handicap (Gr.1), to his credit.

She also had three “Marie” daughters, one of which, Marie De Sarre (by Queen's Hussar) became the chain in the link that resulted another generation later in Double Quick [IRE], whose speed clearly comes from her sire, as overall the family is a stout one.