Exceedingly well named
Leading first-crop sire, leading second-crop sire, leading sire of juveniles: all these tags apply to Exceed And Excel. No wonder so many breeders are giving their mare a chance to live up to his name
There are numerous examples of shuttle stallions who have failed to shine in one or other hemisphere and, generally speaking, the record of Australian-campaigned sires travelling to Europe has been poor. But there’s one horse who has bucked that trend in assured fashion and that’s Exceed And Excel.
As a son of Danehill it’s hardly a surprise to see Exceed And Excel live up to his name in both his native Australia and in Europe and the team at Darley has been thrilled with the highly promising start he has made to his stud career both north and south.
Exceed And Excel’s third-crop runners in Australia and in the forthcoming flat turf season in Europe have a fearsome record to follow in that set by his first two crops to race but a little over halfway through the southern hemisphere season they are already stepping up to the mark. Having been the leading first-crop and second-crop sire in Australia, Exceed And Excel is high up on the third-crop leader board, with only his fellow Darley sire Lonhro ahead of him and 17 winners clear of his nearest rival, Reset.
In Europe, Exceed And Excel finished third in the first-season sires’ table and last year was leading second-season sire by prize-money earned. From those first two European crops he has sired 55 juvenile winners, with last year’s tally of 31 also making him the leading sire of juveniles in Britain and Ireland. All in all, a near faultless introduction to the worldwide stallion ranks.
Exceed And Excel’s top performers around the world include Reward For Effort, who won Australia’s most prestigious two-year-old race, the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes, while Wilander showed early form in winning the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude before going on to success in the G2 Schillachi Stakes.
In the UK, his first-crop daughter Infamous Angel snatched the G2 Lowther Stakes in a thrilling finish and another of his debutantes Mrs Kipling (IRE) converted successfully to the demands of American racing, where she won the G3 Senorita Stakes and finished runner-up in the G2 Providencia Stakes, both run over a mile. She is not to be confused with the Australian-bred Mrs Kipling, who is a Listed winner and is Group Three-placed down under.
Exceedingly Good, Believe’n’succeed and Sugar Babe have all triumphed at Group level in Australia while Spin Cycle and Exceptional Art are Stakes winners in the UK. Flashmans Papers has gained Black type on both sides of the Atlantic and also holds the distinction of being his sire’s first Royal Ascot winner.
Success on the racetrack also aids success in the sales ring, where Exceed And Excel’s yearlings have fetched up to £220,500 and his foals up to £189,000. His lifetime yearling sales average is £37,766 and his 12 breeze-up horses sold in Europe have averaged £108,666.
It’s clear that this story of excellence is far from over: among those set to run in 2010 are half-sisters to crack sprinter Moss Vale, Queen Mary winner Elletelle and to the top-class racemare Independence, who is now the dam of Mount Nelson and Monitor Closely. Meanwhile, arriving soon in the paddocks are foals from a quality book of mares last year, including the dams of Delegator, Reverence and Overdose.
04 February 2010