Swettenham Stud owner Adam Sangster welcomed another confidence booster for his Group 1 shuttler Equiano while attending the Gold Coast Magic Millions last week.

Equiano is the only son of Acclamation available to Australian breeders and the red-hot sireline has just received another shot in the arm courtesy of Dark Angel.

Dark Angel snatched an eleventh-hour victory in the 2011 European first-season sires’ premiership in the winners’ category when his colt Bronze Angel came from a seemingly impossible position to score at Lingfield on December 28.

The victory broke a tense deadlock and enabled Dark Angel to claim the title with 34 individual winners ahead of Red Clubs (33) and Dutch Art (33).

Dark Angel continued the winning run in January.  Laffan doubled up at Southwell on January 1 & 10, Dark Castle landed a plunge at Kempton on January 11 and Bronze Angel won again at Lingfield on January 14.

With such a great start to the New Year, it’s easy to see why breeders such as the Aga Khan, Moyglare Stud and the Niarchos family are booking mares into Dark Angel who stands at Morristown Lattin Stud in Co. Kildare.

Dark Angel and Equiano were members of Acclamation’s first crop and both colts were trained by Barry Hills.

Dark Angel gave the sireline a tremendous start at stud with a G1 victory in the 2007 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket and Equiano chimed in the following year with the first of two G1 victories in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

“Equiano had a very good start here with 87 mares in foal,” Sangster said.  “He’s a beautifully balanced horse and I’m sure the numbers will increase once his first foals arrive in the spring.”

Equiano’s initial northern hemisphere foals are due any tick of the clock in England.  He covered a full book 127 mares in his first season at Newsells Park.