DEATH OF EQUITAS

Taranaki Daily News, 21 September 1931, Page 6

DEATH OF EQUITAS

TRACK AND STUD SUCCESS RESUSCITATE? THE SYBIL LINE. COLONIAL BREEDING TRIUMPH) (Special to News.) Equitas, daughter of Advance and dam of Oratress, died on her owner’s property at Marton on Thursday. There has been considerable discussion as to •which was the greatest Dominion-bred •tud matron, but Equitas is surely ■worthy of a place among the great, for not only have all her stock won good races, but she has re-established the Sybil line and her daughters and granddaughters continue to provide winners. Equitas reached the ripe age of 25 years, and Mr. S- J. Gibbons loses the. founder of his select stud, which has commanded the top prices at the national yearling sales. . • Bred in the lower Rangitikei, Equitas died but a few miles from her birthplace. Bred by the late Utiku Maru■jnaru, Equitas proved a difficult proposition to handle early ,in her career, and as a tw'-year-old she was placed in the coach team plying between Marton and Bulls. This corrective measure died' not prove successful for over 12 months, but finally she submitted to handling and she was placed in trainincr by the late Douglas Gordon. And w£at .an instant success on the racecosiree she proved! Equitas op ned her racing career with a brace of wins at Otaki, these being precursors to bigger victories in the Wairarapa 0 -> arid the Telegraph and City Handicaps at Trentham. The next reason found her at the peak of her form. She added the Stewards’ Handicap to her ally and then won the Mangaone Handicap at Feilding, the Thompson Handicap at Trentham in March, and the Winter Oats Handicap at Wanganui. Her four most important victories in her next and last sea--Bon were the Shorts Handicap and Champion x*late (Trentham), Islington Plate (Ellerslie) and the Members’ Handicap (Riocarton). Hard racing takes its toll of the thotougj oreds apart from the detrimental effect of their early efforts; training and racing, impose a severe strain on the vital and nervous system, and this fr ;t is' especially pronounced in the case c mares. It had not been 1 an easy term for Equitas—gruelling work between the braces and strenuous racing under t.g imposts marking her act" career, but- she was retired to the stud sound in wind and limb, to become an instant success. In doing so she proved herself on a par with Wakeful, Silver Link, Silver .Peak and her daughter Oratress, inasmuch an she succci fully' overcame the natural call on her vitality and, like those other mares, she was an exception to prove the rule. . . • Equitas went to the stud in 1914 and the following is the record of her foalings:— 1915, b.f. Oratress, by Demosthenes. 1917, b.c. Equitable, by Hallowmas. 1918, br.e. Whiritas, by Kilbroney. 1920, b.c. Murihaupo, by Sunny Lake. 1921, b.f. Martianette, by Martian. 1923, br.e. Bank Note, by Paper Money.* 1924, b.f. , by Archery. 1926, brf. Equiiant, by Paper Money. 1928, br.e. Interlocutor, by Nigger Minstrel. She was in foal to Chief Ruler when the died. Equitas was by Advance from Muriwai (dam of Apa, St. Joe, Goldwai and Muritai), by Torpedo from Mystery Girl (half-sister to Retribution), by Peter Flat from Sybil (dam of Young Sybil, dem of Carmen, Oberon and Sandpiper), by P. ddlesworth. Sybil was & daughter of one of the earliest importations to Wellington. She was bred by the late Major Trafford in 1855 from a mare by Aether, bred in New South Wales. There seems no doubt the imported mare was from thoroughbred etock. Torpedo, the dam of Muriwai, was by Musket from Fanny Fisher, by Fisherman from Coquette, by Launcelot. Advance won the. Wellington. Cup, Wanganui Cup, Dunedin Cup, Canterbury Cup, CJ.C. Jubilee Cup, A.R.C. Easter Hand’ ap, A.R.C. Century Stakes and races in Australia as well as other handicaps in New Zealand under heavy weights. The "black demon,” as he was known, was by Vanguard from Laurel, by Young Gownsman from Bay Leaf, by Peter Flat from Sharkie, by Riddlesworth. Vanguard, who • won the New Zealand Cup, Great Autumn. Handicap and other races, and also sired Skirmisher and others, was by Traducer (probably the greatest sire bred in New Zealand) iom En Evant (imp.), by Lord Lyon-(a triple-crown winner and son of Stockwell and Paradigm) from Lady Mary, by Orlando (a Derby winner, by Touchstone—Vulture) from Splitvote, by St. Luke from Electress, by Election. It can thus be seen that Equitas was bred' on the stoutest possible lines, and the best staying blood of Englam played no small part in providing her with the ability to pass on her great vitality to her descendants. Oratress wound up a rigorous racing career in 1920 and her contributions to date are all good performers. They are: 1922, br.f. Windbag, by Absurd. 1923, b.f. Oratrix, by Kilbroney. 1925, b.c. Concentrate, by Kilbroney. 1926, ch.f. Oral, by Chief Ruler. 1928, ch.c, Oratorian, by Hunting Song. 1929, ch.c. Oratorious, by Diacquenod. Another of Equitas’ daughters, Martianette, Is represented by Martian Chief, her first foal, who has been racing very consistently during the past few weeks.