As a three-year-old she recorded a rare double when taking the British Classic 1000 Guineas at Newmarket and its French equivalent, the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches at Longchamp.

[2] Special Duty's dam, the Kentucky-bred Quest to Peak, made no impression as a racehorse, but was a sister of Sightseek and a half-sister of Tates Creek (Yellow Ribbon Stakes).

As a descendant of the British mare Rosary, Special Duty came from the same branch of Thoroughbred Family 23-b which produced Tim Tam, Winning Colors and Chief's Crown.

In the closing stages however, Special Duty regained the advantage and pulled clear to win by two and three quarter lengths from Misheer, who beat Lady of the Desert by a head for second place.

In the final quarter mile, Tom Queally sent the 66/1 outsider Jacqueline Quest into the lead on the stands side from Sent From Heaven and the Irish filly Gile Na Greine as Pasquier made rapid progress on the favourite.

The photo-finish showed that Jacqueline Quest had won by a nose from Special Duty, with Gile Na Greine a head away in third but the racecourse stewards immediately called an inquiry.

After ten minutes of deliberation they took the view that the interference caused by the "winner" had affected the result of the race[10] and awarded the victory to Special Duty.

[12] Two weeks after her win at Newmarket, Special Duty attempted to add the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, a race sometimes known in English-speaking countries as the French 1,000 Guineas.

[13] A "complicated"[14] stewards' inquiry found that Liliside had bumped Full Steam when making her challenge and interfered with Lady of the Desert in the closing stages.

She produced a slightly better effort when reunited with Pasquier in October at Longchamp where she ran sixth to Goldikova in the Prix de la Forêt.