If like begets like, Nyquist was destined for sire success. From the first crop of 2010 champion 2-year-old Uncle Mo, Nyquist was also a champion at 2. What's more, he is only the second horse after Street Sense to capture both the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1). At the time of his Kentucky Derby victory in 2016, he was undefeated, having also taken the Best Pal Stakes (G2), Del Mar Futurity (G1), and FrontRunner Stakes (G1) at 2, and the San Vicente Stakes (G2) and Florida Derby (G1) at 3. He ran three more times after his classic triumph without adding to the win column, finishing third in the Preakness Stakes (G1), fourth in the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and sixth in the Pennsylvania Derby (G2).
At stud, Nyquist duly kept the streak alive, as his first crop was headlined by 2020 champion 2-year-old filly and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) winner Vequist. Overall, there were five stakes winners in that crop, also including 2020 Summer Stakes (G1T) scorer Gretzky the Great . Going against the usual pattern, Nyquist has topped that number in every subsequent Northern Hemisphere crop, with successive crops containing respectively six, nine, seven, and nine stakes winners. Among those are a second champion 2-year-old filly, Immersive; 2025 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Nysos; and other grade 1 scorers Randomized, Johannes , Slow Down Andy, Tenma, Cavalieri, Argos, and Velocity.
Nyquist's current crop of 3-year-olds—at 127 foals, his largest to hit the track to date—has already produced six stakes winners, four graded, including the aforementioned grade 1 winner Argos; grade 2 winner and Kentucky Derby runner Litmus Test; Preakness Stakes entrants Iron Honor and Taj Mahal; and, most recently, Growth Equity, successful in the Peter Pan Stakes (G3). The Peter Pan, which he took by 2 lengths, was only the fourth outing for the progressive Growth Equity. He had broken his maiden over a mile at Aqueduct Racetrack in his previous start March 20, and had finished runner-up in his other two starts: a 6-furlong maiden special weight at Saratoga Race Course last July, and a similar event over 7 furlongs Feb 7 at Gulfstream Park.
Given his trend of improvement, Growth Equity has the potential to become a player in the division moving forward, but a look at the distaff side of his pedigree suggests he may not relish the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Belmont Stakes (G1), a race for which the Peter Pan is often a trial.
His dam, the Wildcat Heir mare My Dear Venezuela, never ran beyond 7 furlongs and never won beyond 6 1/2 furlongs. At sprint distances, however, she was quite effective, winning three times and finishing second in the 2016 Old Hat Stakes (G3) and Miss Gracie Handicap.
My Dear Venezuela is a half sister to the good sprinter Selva (by Wildcat Heir's sire, Forest Wildcat), winner of three black-type events and second in the 2009 Beaumont Stakes (G2), and subsequently the dam of the multiple stakes-winning and graded-placed Vanzzy. My Dear Venezuela and Selva are also half sisters to the dams of Canadian stakes winners Hurricane Clair and Sedburys Ghost.
The third and fourth dams of Growth Equity, Pecan Bayou (Gone West) and Aesculapian (Dr. Fager), achieved little on the track or at stud, although the one-time winner Aesculapian did produce Modest. a minor sprint stakes winner in Ireland. The fifth dam, however, is a true celebrity in Monade, whose seven black-type wins include the 1962 English Oaks and Prix Vermeille, and who was champion 3-year-old filly in England and France that year. Brought to the United States by King Ranch, Monade produced only one black-type scorer, but became an outstanding tap-root mare and is the ancestress of nearly 90 stakes winners, 16 group or grade 1, including such as Too Chic (out of Aesculapian's sister Remedia), and Too Chic's daughters Chic Shirine and Queena, champion older mare in 1991; as well as Keen Ice , Serra Lake, Somali Lemonade, Verrazano, Harmonize, Preservationist, and Olympiad .
Growth Equity is the second stakes winner for Nyquist from six starters out of mares by Forest Wildcat and his sons, representing a version of the pattern of crossing a stallion back over his own broodmare sire line, as Nyquist is out of a mare by the Storm Cat son Forestry. Overall, the pattern of crossing Nyquist over mares by Storm Cat and his sons and grandsons has yielded only average success, with five stakes winners from 64 starters (7.8% stakes winners to starters, virtually identical to his record with all other mares), the best being the 2025 Del Mar Oaks (G1T) winner Velocity.
The difference in Growth Equity's pedigree is the intricate relationship between Nyquist's dam, Seeking Gabrielle, and Wildcat Heir/Forest Wildcat. Seeking Gabrielle is by Forestry—a son of Storm Cat whose granddam is by Dr. Fager, out of Bold Sequence, a three-quarter sister to the dam of Mr. Prospector—and she is out of a mare by a son of Mr. Prospector. Like Seeking Gabrielle, Wildcat Heir is by a son of Storm Cat out of a Mr. Prospector-line mare, and his dam is by a son of Fappiano, a Mr. Prospector/Dr. Fager cross. In addition, Forest Wildcat is out of a mare by Bold Native, a very close relative of Mr. Prospector. Further, Growth Equity's granddam is by Silver Deputy (a Northern Dancer/Mr. Prospector cross, like Seeking Gabrielle and Wildcat Heir) out of a mare who is a Mr. Prospector/Dr. Fager cross.
We will close by noting that Growth Equity is from the I2a1 mitochondrial haplotype. His notable ancestress Monade was strongly linebred to this mtDNA line, and Mr. Prospector (four times in Growth Equity's pedigree), Forestry, and Bold Native all stem from it. The I2a1 mitochondrial haplotype is similarly very prevalent in the pedigree of Nyquist, and it has previously been found in the female line of his grade 1 winners Slow Down Andy, Gretzky the Great, and Velocity, as well as current stakes winners and expected Preakness Stakes contenders Taj Mahal and Iron Honor.
