On January 29th, the 2023 JRA Awards Ceremony and JRA Commendation Presentation Ceremony was held in Tokyo, attended by the connections of the winners from the various categories. It was revealed that Equinox, who was named Horse of the Year for 2023, is preparing well for his stallion life at Shadai Stallion Station.

Katsumi Yoshida, representative of Northern Farm, said, "It's amazing. They are coming from abroad as well. We have mares visiting from Coolmore, not only to breed to Kitasan Black, but also Equinox and Contrail. The test breeding is going well. The first one went smoothly, and now that the breeding season starts in mid-February, we're hoping to move forward accordingly."