Danehill Part 7: sons continue to Exceed

Cover image courtesy of Darley

Exceed And Excel was a regular fixture in both hemispheres from the time he retired to stand under Darley’s banner in 2004, packing in no fewer than 15 consecutive years of shuttling before his withdrawal from service in March. Now rising 24, he is living in retirement at Darley’s Woodlands base.

The fact that Exceed And Excel remained in demand throughout that lengthy period is testament to his capabilities as a stallion. Having showcased his abundant speed with seven wins for Tim Martin, including the G1 Newmarket H. and G1 Invitation S. in track record time, he was snapped up by Darley during his 3-year-old campaign and installed at an opening fee of $55,000.

However, the picture was different in Europe, where his sole outing was an underwhelming performance in the G1 July Cup at Newmarket. Darley still launched him as a reverse shuttler in 2005 but it was at a much lesser fee of €10,000 (AU$19,200).

Very quickly Exceed And Excel became noted as a source of speed, particularly in the juvenile department. That much tied in with the Danehill (USA) influence and that in turn no doubt provided breeders with the confidence to utilise him in both hemispheres.

“Exceed And Excel paved the way for the reverse shuttle,” says Alastair Pulford, head of stallions for Darley Australia. “Credit to Sheikh Mohammed and also John Ferguson who drove the whole thing and encouraged the northern hemisphere team at Dalham Hall to embrace him.

Expensive yearling

“Tim Martin bought him as a yearling. He was an expensive yearling and he went out on a limb to buy him without a client, and ended up talking Nick Moraitis and Alan Osburg into taking 50 per cent each. He identified him and trained him superbly.”

He adds: “Exceed And Excel was the horse that really set the tone for the stallion market, the first really expensive colt bought to go to stud. Darley paid a lot of money for him, he was Darley’s initial foray into the Australian stallion market and he delivered, which validated the whole thing. And ever since then, the go-to colts have made a fortune. Credit to Sheikh Mohammed for identifying him and making it happen.”

Champion sire

Currently, Exceed And Excel is the sire of 217 stakes winners, 19 at Group 1-level. There have been some real stars along the way ranging from champions Overreach, Earthquake, Guelph and Microphone in the Southern Hemisphere to G1 1000 Guineas heroine Mawj (Ire) and a pair of G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winners in Mischief Magic (Ire) and Outstrip (GB) in the north. His importance for Darley is summed up by the fact that its current Australian roster offers three top-notch sons in Bivouac, Cylinder and Microphone.

“He was a trailblazer really,” says Pulford. “He hit the ground running. I remember when Exceedingly Good stepped up and won the Maribyrnong Plate. That was super exciting.

“But then the autumn came round and he quinellaed both divisions of the Blue Diamond Prelude and we thought ‘wow we’re away’; Wilander beat Exceedingly Good in the colts division and Believe’N’Succeed beat Sugar Babe in the fillies race. So he started off with a bang. And then in the second season, he got a Blue Diamond winner in Reward For Effort.”

Despite standing for much less in the Northern Hemisphere, it was a similar story thanks to a breakthrough winner at Royal Ascot (Flashmans Papers in the Listed Windsor Castle S.) before Infamous Angel (Ire) came out on top in the G2 Lowther S.

“They priced him reasonably aggressively up there but he was such a good stallion, he rose through it,” says Pulford. “There was a time when he was actually going better in the northern hemisphere.

“We noticed by around his sixth season that he was bringing out the best in his mares, working with mares that could run themselves. So we sent every good mare - every Metropolitan, stakes-class mare that we owned that wasn’t too close to Danzig or Danehill - that we could to him, and out of that crop in 2010 we bred Guelph and Sidestep. Overreach (bred by Corumbene Stud) also came out of that crop. Exceed could throw them from anywhere but he was very good at bringing out the best in the mare.”

He adds: “He was a horse who just imparted so much speed and precocity. He had the most unbelievable action, a real quick top of the ground horse and barely got 7f (1400 metres). And that was mostly what he threw.

Similar to Danehill

“He was very like Danehill himself. However, where he was different from him and other sons was that you never saw what you’d call a boat by him. Some of his best horses were big but they always had a bit of quality to them.

“They could get up early, which the market really loves. There are some great sprinting sires who don’t necessarily throw that early 2-year-old speed but he was very reliable for that. And then they trained on too. Like Bivouac, who was a superstar into his fourth year.”

Bivouac’s 4-year-old season was capped by a wide-margin win in the G1 Darley Sprint Classic at Flemington. Prior to that, he had captured the G1 Newmarket H. and G1 Golden Rose S. as a 3-year-old, just like Exceed And Excel. His first-crop are rising two and sold for up to $675,000 as yearlings.

Champion 2-year-old Microphone had first 2-year-old’s this year, a group which includes the Group 2-placed Matisse, while Cylinder joins at a fee of $44,000 (inc GST) having signed off by emulating his sire with a win in the G1 Newmarket H.

“We’re waiting for the heir apparent now,” says Pulford.

“Bivouac is very like his father. In terms of race record, Exceed wasn’t a Group 1 winner at two and then at three won the G1 Invitation and the Newmarket. Bivouac won the Golden Rose and then came back to win the Newmarket. He was lightning fast. He’s probably not as heavily set as his father but in many ways they’re similar. He’s inbred to Danehill and actually I think he looks a lot like him - if you look at pictures of Danehill in training, they’re a lot alike, especially their heads.

“We’re getting very encouraging reports on his first yearlings from all sorts of trainers and breakers including Gai Waterhouse. We have seven of our own and they include one of our best looking fillies who is a three-quarter sister to Cylinder.

“Microphone is inhibited because of lower fertility, and now we’ve got Cylinder to come. He’s also a Newmarket winner, out of a Street Cry mare from Lonhro’s family, and a beautiful-looking horse. He was very fast - very much his father’s son.”

Various sons of Exceed And Excel are based around the world. Of the sons with runners in Australia, Telemon Thoroughbred’s Sidestep produced the 2019 G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Kiamichi while Vinery’s Exceedance has already thrown a pair of G3 winners out of his first crop in Dublin Down and Flyer. Headwater, another at Vinery, also has seven stakes winners to his credit.

In Europe, Germany is now home to Helmet, the sire of dual G1 Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow (Ire), while speed influences Cotai Glory (Ire) and Bungle Inthejungle (Ire) remain popular with Irish breeders. And although Outstrip wasn’t a great success for Darley, he did leave behind a G1 Melbourne Cup winner in Gold Trip (Fr) prior to his shift to Brazil.

Important broodmare sire

Exceed And Excel has also become an important broodmare sire, his 109 stakes winners in that department ranging from Encryption and Tuvalu in the Southern Hemisphere to Anthony Van Dyck (Ire), Ten Sovereigns (Ire) and Vandeek (GB) in the north.

“People all round the world want to buy his daughters and we’re delighted to have so many ourselves - we treasure them,” says Pulford. “He’s always been an easy horse to be around and his progeny are sound of mind and sound of limb. Because he was durable and lasted so long, his legacy is still building, and there’s still progeny to come so it’s not the end of the story.”