Twins by freshman sire Fury Kapcori now both winners

In a strong class of freshman sires, highlighted by a rare Triple Crown winner, Fury Kapcori still managed to accomplish something unique. The Florida stallion is the sire of twins from his first crop who are both now winners on the racetrack.

Twin Turbo was the first of the duo to break through, winning his fourth career start, a maiden claiming race, on Oct. 31 at Hawthorne. Catch Ya Later Bro followed suit by making it to the races at the same level in December at Tampa Bay, finishing second in his Dec. 4 debut before winning on Dec. 27. Both colts, foaled May 8, 2017, were bred by Craig Wheeler in Florida. They are out of the unraced Storm Bird mare Andrea Gail, who also produced Grade 3 winner Areyoutalkintome, who earned $985,417. Andrea Gail is a half-sister to Grade 2 winner Elaborate, and her third dam is champion Smart Angle.

Surviving twin Thoroughbreds who make it to the races are extremely uncommon, and tend to garner interest when they appear. West Virginia-foaled twins Mr. Ping and Mr. Pong, who were born in 2015, debuted together to great fanfare, but went unplaced in five combined career starts. Perhaps the most successful Thoroughbred twins are Go On Green and Stop On Red, both winners in 1959. Stop On Red went on to become a multiple stakes producer, and is the second dam of the great Spectacular Bid.

About 20 percent of ovulations in Thoroughbred mares are double ovulations, with about half of those resulting in twin pregnancies. Experts estimate only about 1 percent of twin pregnancies in Thoroughbreds are carried successfully to term. Without human intervention, mares will often lose one or both embryos within the first six weeks, as a mare’s body is not designed to carry or provide nourishment to multiple offspring at once. If one or both foals survive a twin pregnancy and birth, they typically require intensive care, as they may be small and susceptible to illness.

With advances in modern reproductive science that are extensively utilized in Thoroughbred breeding, twins can be detected in an early pregnancy scan at 14 to 16 days following breeding. Most breeders will ask the veterinarian to reduce the pregnancy to a single embryo, rather than allowing nature to take its course. The veterinarian will typically “pinch” the smaller embryo, or the one that is easiest to reach without disturbing the other. This was the case in early 1996, when the broodmare Cee's Song was proven to be carrying two embryos a few weeks after being covered by the stallion Cee's Tizzy, and the veterinarian pinched off one of her embryos. The following year, she delivered Tiznow, a champion and two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow.

Coincidentally, Tiznow is the sire of Fury Kapcori, who won or placed in seven stakes over the course of his career. Grade 1-placed as a juvenile, he scored his biggest wins at age 4, taking the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes and the Santana Mile. He currently sits fourth on Florida's freshman sire list by earnings, with seven winners from 20 starters. Those are led by stakes winner High On Gin.

Fury Kapcori is a half-brother to Grade 2 winner Tizfiz, dam of Grade 1-winning juvenile Tiz the Law, and to stakes winner Dixie Commander. It is the extended family of champion Favorite Trick and of Grade 1 winner Moonshine Memories.