Twin Colts By Gift Box Born At Coteau Grove Farms In Louisiana

Coteau Grove Farms in Sunset, La., welcomed a rare pairing on April 3, when their mare Villa d'Este produced twin colts by young stallion Gift Box.

Both colts were healthy and hit the early markers of standing and nursing on schedule, and Villa d'Este recovered well, per a BloodHorse report. All three will be monitored in the coming days to ensure that the mare will be able to support both foals with the proper nutrients while maintaining her own health. If she requires assistance, a nursemare will be brought in to remove some of the workload.

Dr. Chris Newton of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital told Bloodhorse that about 14 percent of pregnancies in broodmares result in twins, but carrying both to term is extremely rare, either because one of the fetuses is removed manually or the mare aborts one or both of the foals herself. If carried to term, the foaling process can easily face grave complications for the mare and foals, which is why breeders and veterinarians will usually intervene early in gestation to remove one of the potential foals as soon as twins are detected.

Jacob Cyprian, Coteau Grove's broodmare manager, said they never found evidence of twins on inspections during the mare's pregnancy, but her increased size earlier than expected had the staff wondering whether she was due in January rather than April. He said they didn't know the mare was having twins until a second foal began to emerge during labor.

“The first one came…then the assistant manager said, 'She's got another one,'” Cyprian told BloodHorse. “Sure enough, we saw the front hooves were coming out and she (delivered) the second foal. We were all just shocked.

“I got on the phone with the vet and when I told him he was like, 'What?' I said, 'Yeah, we've got twins,' Cyprian continued. 'Really?' I'm like, 'Really, we've got twins.'”

The twins are the seventh and eighth foals out of the unraced Villa d'Este, a daughter of Street Sense whose best runner to date is the Grade 3-placed Benefactor, by More Than Ready. She was purchased by Coteau Grove Farms pregnant to Speightstown for $130,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale.

Gift Box, a 9-year-old son of Twirling Candy, stands at Lane's End in Versailles, Ky., for an advertised fee of $10,000. His first foals are arriving in 2022.

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