Shadai Farm's trusted barn manager Reijiro Azuma says that he is yet to see a son or daughter of Equinox who does not look like an athlete. Then there is Teruya Yoshida, the mastermind behind the entire Shadai operation, who says he expects Equinox to be bettered only by Kitasan Black on all metrics at the JRHA Select Sale. For context, Yoshida hails Kitasan Black as the single best stallion that Japan can call upon right now, so you can say there is a serious weight of expectation behind Equinox leading into Monday's sale.“Japanese owners love the newcomers to the stallion ranks so, naturally, there is always huge excitement,” Yoshida says from his base at Shadai Farm on the eve of the JRHA Select Sale.He added, “Equinox was such a super racehorse, so now a lot of people are expecting a lot. We have some very good-looking yearlings by him so we are expecting a lot from him also. He seems to be a nice stallion.”Equinox retired to stand alongside his sire Kitasan Black at the Shadai Stallion Station for a record-breaking opening fee of Y20 million [roughly €124,000] in 2024. He covered a little over 200 mares in that debut season and his first foals took this sale by storm 12 months ago when 23 of them sold for a combined sum of Y3,565,000,000 [a little over €20 million]. Now, as that first crop inches ever closer to taking their first steps on a racecourse, the appetite among the domestic buying bench to secure the first runners by Equinox is reported to be fierce.Everyone whose opinion is worth taking on board here in Japan gives Equinox a genuine chance of carrying over that massive reputation he held on the racetrack to the stallion barn. But there are no guarantees in this game and Yoshida knows that better than most. “We are expecting a lot,” he says again. “But it can be hard to say. Look at Secretariat. When Brigadier Gerard retired, people were expecting a lot also, but he was very bad. That was many years ago now. My Swallow was another. He was a champion 50 years ago but never made it as a stallion. So, sometimes it does not happen.”There were genuine concerns raised when Equinox first went to stud that, given his size and stature, he might be best suited to a certain type of mare. However, Yoshida was careful not to pigeon-hole him and said he's doing just fine with every type of mare, big or small, provided they are good.He said, “Any kind of good mare suits him. Some of his horses are tall, like he is, and other horses are more compact and more muscular, which maybe they get from their mother. So they are all different. They still look good so it just depends on the case. People expect tall, good-looking horses with a sharp head from him, but some are not. His own father, Kitasan Black, does not get many early runners. They tend to run in June or July. We don't have so many early Kitasan Black runners. I think it could be the same with Equinox. But Kitasan Black is the best stallion in Japan right now. I like his offspring very much. They all look good. They are very athletic, well-balanced horses with good heads and good conformation. They run well, too, which is most important. They stay good which, for racing in Japan, is most important because the biggest races here in Japan are over 1m2f and 1m4f. So we need horses for this distance.”As the conversation progresses, Azuma and Yoshida go on to nominate separate yearlings by Equinox as being their favourite, with the two horses put forward boasting strikingly contrasting characteristics from each other. Azuma nominates lot 96, an Equinox colt out of Breeders' Cup-winning Audarya's dam, Green Bananas, as the closest thing he has seen to the sire. “Light on his feet, big frame and the very same markings as Equinox,” comes the appraisal. “I am yet to see a son or daughter of Equinox who is not light on their feet and athletic – he produces athletes,” Azuma continued.“I prefer this one,” Yoshida says, pointing to lot 96 in Shadai's custom-made sales catalogue, equipped with pictures of each lot. “He is more like his mother, Lovely Your Eyes, who was a very good two-year-old runner by Logotype. A different type. Okay, by Equinox, but not tall and a little wider. A different-shaped body. Nice-looking horse, anyway. The Green Bananas colt might need further than 10f in time.”Therein lies the strength of the Japanese broodmare band. The families that have been sourced and nurtured in this county over the past number of years are not so much of a secret weapon but a well known strength of the breeding industry at this stage.Yoshida said, “It doesn't matter about distance, all we want to do is breed a good horse. Later today [Saturday], we have a runner [Satono Reve, who went on to finish third] in the July Cup in England. He was actually sold at the Select Sale. His stallion, Lord Kanaloa, was a very good, strong sprint runner in Hong Kong and he is now a very good stallion here in Japan. So for us, it doesn't matter. If they are good horses, the trip doesn't matter.”He added, “We have bought many expensive mares over the past 20 or 30 years but price does not mean so much. By some accident, we have caught some very nice mares. You need luck and we have been lucky. I don't think we need very expensive mares. They look nice because they were good runners but that does not mean that they will be good producers. We have also bought many speed mares on purpose. We need speed. Most of the races start at six furlongs so we need some speed at the beginning. We have many staying stallions so, when we buy speed mares, it makes a good mating.”It's not all about Kitasan Black, Kizuna and now Equinox leading into the JRHA Sale. Efforia is a young stallion that is capturing the imagination with five individual two-year-old winners to his credit in his debut season. Yoshida is predicting a strong sale from the multiple Group 1-winning Japanese 2,000 Guineas hero who hails from the family of Admire Moon.He said, “Another stallion I am very excited about is Efforia. He has already sired five individual two-year-old winners and I think lot 190 is a super colt by him. I think the buyers this week will go for Kitasan Black number one and then Equinox. If they fail to buy a horse by either of those, I think Efforia could be the third most popular stallion. From one-and-a-half months ago, we have been showing horses to buyers here on the farm. They come to us with a checklist of horses that they want to see. Everyone is the same, they all want to see lot 190, the Efforia colt. One hundred per cent. Unbelievable. So, we believe in this horse. He is very beautiful and I think he will be very expensive.”On other stallions to watch out for, he added, “Hot Rod Charlie is also doing well with his first two-year-old runners in Japan. We don't have so many dirt races on the JRA circuit but he is doing well. Do Deuce is just a baby. He has his first foals selling this week but they are very nice. Lot 341 is a very beautiful horse by him. We bought his mother [Group 3 winner Coppa (Yesbyjimmy)] for $200,000 in America. Not too expensive. I'm happy! There are some nice European horses there, also. Poetic Flare is a pretty good stallion but he has low fertility. Siskin is very popular and covered 220 mares this year. He is an unbelievable sire but he is also very unlucky because, in his first year, he had an injury and only covered seven mares. Almost everything from his first crop won races. Now his crops have increased, he should have many, many winners. We are selling a very nice horse by him, lot number 19, and I think this stallion has a very big future.”It seems as though nothing can dampen the spirits ahead of Monday's sale, which kicks off with the yearling session at 9.30am local time. Not even the close proximity of Typhoon Nanmadol and the unpredictable weather that it is bringing with it on the ground at Northern Horse Park. Whatever the weather outside, Yoshida is predicting hot trade in the ring over the next two days.He concluded, “We've had many, many visitors to the farm to see the horses before the sale. Biggest number ever, in fact. So we are expecting a lot. The rich people in Japan are even richer now because the country is doing very well economically. Also, our purse system is so good here in Japan, that we see many people who want to become owners here. Everyone is happy, including us.”The post “We Are Expecting A Lot” – Equinox Excitement Reaches Fever Pitch Ahead Of JRHA Sale appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.