Equiano: New And Proven

The dual Group 1-winning sprinter Equiano (Fr) has moved from Newsells Park Stud in England to the Irish National Stud. The stud's director of sales Gary Swift discusses the sire of Group/Grade 1 winners The Tin Man (GB) and Belvoir Bay (GB) while Patrick Diamond provides an update on the INS Mare Syndicate. 

TDN: Gary, you have a new stallion in Equiano, but he's a proven sire compared to the majority of new stallions in Ireland. Why was he of interest to the Irish National Stud?

GS: Well firstly Equiano was a dual King's Stand winner and the highest-rated son of Acclamation GB). He is already the sire of 29 stakes horses and four Group/Grade 1 horses. We felt that given the year that is in it, it was better for us to stand a proven sire like him than a new sire that we didn't know a whole lot about. It is a little bit of a safety measure and the bookings we have taken so far tell us that the Irish breeders have reacted very well to him being in Ireland.

TDN: You mentioned that he has a number of stakes horses and Group 1 horses. Can you highlight some of his best progeny? 

GS: One of his more notable horses is The Tin Man (GB) who is an exceptional horse. He is the winner of three Group 1s. Belvoir Bay (GB) is a Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and she is a consistent Group 1 horse. All of his progeny seem to be sound and consistent horses who factor over a number of years, they don't just appear one afternoon in a Group 1. There seems to be a longevity and a hard-knocking quality to Equiano's stock.

TDN: Have you noticed any particular nicks that seem to work well with Equiano? 

GS: The Acclamation line is well known to crossover great with a range of mares and we think daughters of Invincible Spirit (Ire) will cross into him very well as would anything with Danehill Dancer (Ire). Most recently there are a couple of daughters of Tamayuz (GB) that seem to be doing quite well on the cross and I think, speed on speed, will carry this horse to another 20 stakes horses, and hopefully another couple of Group 1 horses as well.

TDN: What is he like in temperament and conformation? 

GS: Julian Dollar, of Newsells Park, was able to tell us that he had an amazing attitude and he passes that on to his stock. They are extraordinarily mild-mannered horses and I think that is why his progeny function at two, three, four and beyond. Nowadays horses can't be trained for longevity if they don't have great temperaments. Equiano himself was a very expensive yearling, bred by Lady O'Reilly and throughout his career he was a resilient, robust horse and physically very sound, which he passes on to his stock. 

TDN: You mentioned earlier that bookings have been strong for Equiano so far, can you detail what level of support you think he will get in 2021? 

GS: Well the Irish National Stud has committed to sending him eight or 10 mares and they are all speed mares. One or two of them are young fillies starting off their breeding careers and we think he is a no-brainer for fillies starting out. With bookings from breeders we are seeing a pattern where breeders have a mare who has had two or three big covers and now they are just sitting back a bit with that mare waiting for those foals to come through. They are now booking in to Equiano as they want a proven horse of value. We are standing him at €3,000 which we think is an incredible price. 

TDN: Patrick, how many years has the INS Mare Syndicate been going? 

PD: We started our original syndicate in 2018 and off the back of the success we had from it we launched a new syndicate in 2020. The interest in the syndicates has been excellent, so we are just about to launch our 2021 syndicate. 

TDN: What are some of the successes the syndicate has had? 

PD: The first foal we took to the ring, from the mares, was an Awtaad (Ire) colt that we sold for €95,000, so naturally the syndicate was delighted with that. Our star mare, from the original syndicate, sold an Invincible Spirit colt for €330,000 at Goffs in 2019 and he has gone to Charlie Appleby now, so we are really excited to see what he could do in his two-year-old career. This year we sold an Invincible Spirit colt yearling for €120,000 to James Ferguson. In its short history we have had a great success and we are looking forward to building on that. 

TDN: Is there a particular criteria the mares need to meet to become part of the syndicate? 

PD: I suppose we try to tick all the boxes and buy premium mares but at a value that we think makes sense, ideally young mares, carrying good covers and with nice deep families. We have seen in recent years that there is a little bit of value to be found in buying the slightly more proven mares who are a little older. 

TDN: What mares have you got for the 2021 syndicate so far? 

PD: We bought our first mare in England, Millicent Fawcett (GB), who is a daughter of Kingman (GB). She is a winner and was trained by John Gosden. She is very well related, being a half-sister to a Group 2 and Group 3 winner. She is in foal to Showcasing (GB) who has done extremely well. This is her first cover so we are looking forward to seeing her first foal in 2021. 

We bought another mare in Arqana, a Sea The Stars (Ire) in foal to Wootton Bassett (GB). She is a sister to a Group 1 winner and has a really good, strong family. She has a Siyouni (Fr) and a Frankel (GB) to run for her. As I said, she is currently in foal to Wootton Bassett and we managed to purchase her for half of his 2021 nomination so we feel like we got a really good bargain.

TDN: Is there a sense of community forming among the syndicate members now that the syndicate has been running a few years? 

PD: Definitely, and it is growing. 2020 has been a tough year and people haven't been able to get to see each other but we did a lot of Zoom calls and there has been a lot more content on the WhatsApp group. There's definitely a great relationship building between our members. There are a lot of people from all walks of life. Some people were breeders before that scaled back or have had small operations and are looking to invest into a slightly higher-quality animal. Other people are new to breeding, which is great, and it is great to have people coming in with different angles and different viewpoints. We get the syndicate members involved in the mating plans and our selection process so they are involved from the word go. Quite often our syndicate members have come up with great ideas which have proved successful.