When in 2007 the bay, international multichampion FS Bengali arrived in Poland, for Polish breeders it was electrifying news. It was a chance to use World Junior Champion Stallion, Scottsdale Champion Stallion and US National Champion Stallion on a wider group of Polish mares. One such breeder was Jan Głowacki from the Mazovian stud of Głowacki Arabians in Nowa Mała Wieś and it was without any doubt the right decision. The mating with Ewitacja resulted in 2008 in a chestnut colt, who received the name Eternal.
Correctly built, full of type and charm, with a nice head and a large, dark eye, he drew attention already as a foal. „I immediately saw a stallion in him”, says breeder Jan Głowacki. „In my opinion he was an outstanding foal, proud, always posing, eager to show. He developed correctly, was never over-mature, which also gave us hope toward his future beauty and looks”.
The breeder was not mistaken. In 2009, as a yearling, Eternal, trained in his home stud by Szymon Głowacki, claimed the Reserve Championship at the Junior Spring Show in Białka and later repeated this feat at the Polish National Show in Janów Podlaski. In 2010 he brought home a bronze medal from the show in Blommeröd. From the Austrian Wels he returned with a Junior Top Five title. The year 2011 delivered a class win and Top Five title at the Polish Nationals. In 2012 he was leased to the Norwegian stud of Nordlys Araber. He returned to the Polish arena in 2013, winning the bronze medal at the Arabia-Polska Festival and, in the hands of Tom Schoukens, the bronze medal at the Polish Nationals in Janów Podlaski. The year 2014 brought another bronze, this time at the Kauber Platte show. „I most remember our first performance, in Białka”, Szymon Głowacki recalls their joint march through the European arenas. „We were both very stressed out, but the horse was noticed. For us it was the first serious success at a Polish show. Just three months later, at Janów Podlaski, Eternal easily won his class with the highest score among all junior stallions. I must admit that it was a huge disappointment when in the finals we took second place instead of the first on the podium. However it was during that season that I understood that this stallion has a future ahead of him”.
Twisted lots of the Bairactar sire line
Eternal represents the sire line of Bairactar d.b., imported in 1817 from the Middle East to the German stud of Weil. Descending from Bairactar is the Polish Amurath Sahib (Amurath II – Sahiba/Nana Sahib I), foaled in Breniów in 1932, who left his mark mainly at the Kraśnica Stud, where he covered mares until 1940. Roman Pankiewicz wrote in his book “Polish Arabian horse breeding 1918-1939” that without this stallion it would be hard to imagine breeding today, not only in Poland, as his daughters gave many national champions, including US and Canadian. Many year director of Michałów Stud, Ignacy Jaworowski, emphasised that Amurath Sahib passed onto his get an excellent topline. He also recalled that Amurath Sahib had a very long neck, correct limbs and good movement. Considered as his most valuable daughter is Bałałajka 1941 (out of Iwonka III/Ibn Mahomet), who wrote herself down in history as the dam of Bandola (by Witraż) and her full brother Bask. Both of these horses are legends of the Arabian breed.
However in Poland the sire line of Bairactar, though quite numerously represented (Equifor, Gwarny, Gedymin, Balon) was not able to establish such a strong position as his Russian branch in Tersk. It was there that Amurath Sahib’s son, the born in 1952 in Klemensów Arax (out of Angara/Wielki Szlem), sire of Nabeg, grandsire of Menes and great-grandsire of Balaton was active. Whereas Balaton sired Kubinec, in turn the sire of FS Bengali and the grandsire of Eternal.
Arax drew the attention of the Russians as an excellent race horse (coefficient of success: 2.09), but his role as chief sire was much more important. His sons usually boasted an instantly recognisable masculine apparition. Nabeg 1966 (out of Mammona’s daughter, taken eastwards from Janów in 1939 – Nomenklatura by Naseem, son of Skowronek), covered mares in Tersk for 7 years, leaving 80 get, which achieved fame all around the world. Nabeg’s son Tallin, leased to Poland, later gave in Michałów the highly merited stallions Wojsław (out of Wilejka/El Paso) and Wagram (out of Wendeta/Palas). Another of Nabeg’s sons, the strongly built and excellently moving Menes, immortalised himself as the sire of European Champion Balaton (out of the beautiful Aswan daughter Panagia) and grandsire of Kubinec.
This is what Emma Maxwell wrote in „Arabian Horse World” (August 2002) about the moment when Karl Heinz Stöckle from Gestüt Osterhof (Germany) saw the chestnut Kubinec in Holland at an auction of Tersk horses: „He had not come with any special plans to buy, but in a familiar tale of Arabian infatuation he saw Kubinec in the sale preview and knew he had to have him (…) Karl Heinz anxiously spent the few hours between the preview and the sale itself counting up the maximum amount he could possibly spend on acquiring his dream horse, but luck was firmly on his side that day and he ended up buying Kubinec for considerably less than his budget”. What fascinated the German breeder so much? In Emma Maxwell’s words: „At this time Kubinec was undoubtedly a dramatically charismatic horse with a superb head, neck, and movement”. Kubinec combined the best traits of his sire line with the best qualities of his dam Kosmetika, daughter of US National Champion Muscat, a stallion with an unbelievably long neck.
The stallion, who emanated strength and beauty, quickly began to win at European shows; in the hands of his owner he became, among others, 1992 German National Champion and 1992 All Nations Cup Reserve Champion. In 1994 he found his way to the training centre of Frank Spoenle, who not only wanted to show the horse, but also decided to partner him with the then leased by him Om El Sanadiva, with whom he claimed the titles of All Nations Cup and World Champion. The plan ended in complete success. Kubinec reached for the titles of European and World Champion in spectacular style, with „20s” for type, head and neck and movement. Soon it became evident that he was also a superb sire. As Emma Maxwell recounts in the quoted above article, he became the sire of 36 champions, which together claimed 116 titles, including the most prestigious: the All Nations Cup, the European Championships and the World Championships.
Time of Bengali
Although Kubinec mated excellently with various lines, one of the most spectacular breeding successes belonged to Frank Spoenle, who used El Shaklan blood and bred Kubinec to Om El Sanadiva (Sanadik El Shaklan – De La Reina/Kaiyoum), owned by Ralf Heckenbücker. The born in 1994 FS Bengali benefitted from Spanish and Egyptian bloodlines of his dam, as well as American by means of the grandsires of her dam: Khemosabi and Bay El Bey. Correct and elegant, he quickly displayed quality, winning first on European arenas (the All Nations Cup Reserve Championship twice, the Wels Championship, the World Reserve Championship, the German Championship) and later, under the auspices of Michael Byatt, American ones (the 2002 Scottsdale Championship, where he bested the Polish Ganges and the 2003 US National Championship). FS Bengali was at the time owned by a partnership formed by Frank Spoenle, Sabine Widmaier and Marion Hönig (Germany) and Malcolm and Jane Hickford (UK). „When FS Bengali was two years old, tempting offers started coming from the US”, recalled Frank Spoenle. Despite the fact that, as Spoenle explained, America is a different world („America is a different country, where the emphasis was on other things. In the past, Americans sometimes had different ideas on how an Arabian horse was supposed to look. The classic type, the small, fine head and other qualities so important in Europe, were often overlooked in favour of necks and toplines”), FS Bengali stood up to American horses without any hesitations. Michael Byatt explained (AHW, January 2004): „Kubinec is known as a glorious, animated, exotic, and wonderful stallion. And Bengali takes after him in presence and style”. He further added: „From his dam, Bengali got an added dose of pretty, along with great balance, and his solid, well-conformed body”.
FS Bengali did not disappoint both as a show horses and sire. His son is for example the Triple Crowned Aja Sangali (out of Bey Santeyna/Simeon/Sanegor), born at Aja Arabians of the Hickford Family, later sold to Al Khalediah Farm (Saudi Arabia). His full brother Aja Sanagor became UK Champion and Supreme Champion and headed off to Kuwait. Aja Svengali (out of G Estarreja/Camargue) was named UK Junior Champion. Michael Byatt summed it up like so: „FS Bengali has that extreme, exotic beauty without sacrificing solid conformation. Overall, he is Quality with a capital Q”.
Meanwhile in Babolna Hungarian breeders decided to breed Kubinec to World Reserve Champion 218 Elf Layla Walayla. As a result El Nabila B was born, more proof of Bairactar sire line’s flexibility, which also brings good results with Egyptian blood. In Poland El Nabila B was used by the state studs between 2007-2008. Several of his daughters were born in Janów Podlaski (Cetula, Eliwia, Epoleta, Nizara) and Michałów (Draga, El Mikka, Erisa, Eskarina, Latona, Pustynna Gra, Elihara), but he is most known as the sire of Pianissima’s daughter, AJ Penelope 2008 (Ajman Stud), who was born as a result of embryotransfer, and the sire of Emandoria’s descendant, born in the US H Emandila H 2008 (Hennessey Arabians). His son is the Janów-bred Almanzor (out of Alantina/Emigrant), known for his sweeping movement (awarded three „20s” for this trait during the Polish Nationals in 2013).
However in Poland we did not manage to breed a stallion from the sire line of Bairactar of FS Bengali’s quality. So when private breeder Czesław Witko (Tarnawka Stud) decided to purchase this stallion, the news caused quite a stir in the „Arabian” community. It seemed that now the „era of Bengali” would also come to Poland and that he would be the most busy sire in our country. The more so that there was a change of guard – Wojsław, also a descendant of Arax, died the previous year in the US. „FS Bengali is the first such famous since many years purchase to Poland, which will focus the eyes of the world on Polish private breeding – may it be for a long time”, we wrote on our portal. „I would like to thank Frank Spoenle for the negotiations that were so effective. Everything was so nice and easy”, declared the happy new owner.
Today, when FS Bengali has left Poland (he is now a chief sire in Iran, where he is used widely and successfully), we can attempt to sum up his presence by the Vistula River. It seems that his potential, despite an initial enthusiasm, was not fully used. The state studs did not use him and private breeders turned out to be most cautious. The last Polish foals by Bengali were born in 2012. In the Polish Arabian Stud Book there are 122 of his get registered – 60 fillies and 62 colts. And it were his sons that turned out to be his signature mark. Two of them – Maran (out of Missouri/Wachlarz) bred at Tarnawka Stud and Eternal from Nowa Mała Wieś, can claim to be his rightful heirs.
The beauty of Europa and the stamina of Europejczyk and Ganges, an ideal combination
A lucky star hung over breeder Jan Głowacki when he made the decision to breed Bengali to Ewitacja, a mare from the subline of the famous Europa (Bandos – Eunice/Comet), Polish National Champion and full sister to Eukaliptus. Professor Krystyna Chmiel wrote about her dam Eunice from the dam line of Sahara d.b. in her book „They formed beauty”: „A bay Comet, with a topline as straight as a table and disarming look of her large doe-eyes, she was one of the favourites of the late Andrzej Krzyształowicz”. Europa, as Professor Chmiel writes, though she didn’t race herself, had stamina written in her genes, because she produced the unbeaten at the track Europejczyk (by El Paso), as well as the winner of the Criterium St., Euzebia by Palas. Another daughter of Europa, Eura by Fawor, was thrice bred to Etogram (El Paso – Etruria/Palas). One of the effects of this breeding was Ewunia (born 1993), purchased by Jan Głowacki, the later breeder of Eternal. „It was at his stud that she produced the extremely finesse and at the same time athletic daughter of Ganges – Ewitacja, chest. 2002”, recounted Professor Chmiel. Therefore the chestnut female took her beauty after her dam and had her stamina „coded” on both sides of her pedigree, ending up in the money in all of her racing starts. This is what we wrote about Ganges in one of our articles: „Very charismatic, of a beautiful, dark bay coat colour and abundant, rebellious mane, is one of those horses that have avid fans worldwide. He is the one that most resembles Bask, whose bloodline and type was to be introduced into the Polish breeding program by Monogramm”. It is thanks to Ganges that in Eternal’s veins flows the blood of the epoch-making Monogramm, without whom the successes of modern Polish breeding are hard to imagine.
Ewitacja, after a fruitful breeding career at her maternal Nowa Mała Wieś, was sold in 2014 to the UK, in foal to Gotico. The resulting filly, born in 2015 Emilja, owned by Marianne, Dave & Laura Smith (Armada Arabians), won her class after which she became Yearling Champion Filly during the first edition of the British Breeders Allians in Weston Lawns, Coventry in May.
Eternal, an eight year old today, is proving himself as a sire of promising get. Eternal’s Norwegian lessees (Nette Elise Bådal with family) can definitely be proud of their filly Zerengete (out of Zangreal/WH Justice), who won her class and claimed the junior mare gold medal at the Norway International B Show in 2014. Another mare of their ownership, Selma (out of CA Sida/CA Sidon) placed second in class during the international 2015 NAHF Championships in Linnesvollen. In total nine foals by Eternal were born in 2013 in Norway, out of which several have already found their way to the Middle East.
In Poland Eternal was used by breeder Petroniusz Frejlich, who obtained this way the filly El Hasna (out of El Habiba/Ecaho), today a two year old, the yearling El Wiktorio (out of Elwiktoria/Ekstern) and three of this year’s foals: out of El Habiba, El Huzia/Duhan and Dekstera/Ensenator. During this year’s Junior Spring Show in Białka, El Wiktorio, a very correct and charismatic chestnut with a topline as straight as a table and good legs, won his class and later became the Yearling Silver Champion Stallion, besting many rivals sired by world famous stallions. This year the breeder again bred Eternal to three mares. „I always liked this stallion”, he explains his decision. „It turned out that he passes on a good head, perfect body and correct tail setting. Foals by Eternal also have long necks, large eyes and excellent movement. I am very pleased, especially with this year’s crop”.
These opinions are confirmed by Jan Głowacki: „Eternal decisively improves mares, he gives good heads and long necks. We already have one mare by him in our herd – Gratena (out of Gracea by Etogram). I hope she proves to be a valuable broodmare”.
Apart from Poland and Norway, foals by Eternal also represent their sire in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. And that is probably just the first chapter in his successfully developing breeding career.
