Having secured Exceedance on behalf of a colts' fund less than 18 months ago, Vinery Stud may have unearthed its next star stallion after Exceedance secured his first stakes success in Saturday's G3 San Domenico S. at Rosehill in its famous green and white colours.
The San Domenico S. has been a useful proving ground for potential stallions over the years with names such as General Nediym, Testa Rossa, Charge Forward and Foxwedge on the honour board, as well as recent winners, Vinery's Star Turn and Arrowfield's Pariah.
Vinery paid $180,000 for the Nick Vass-bred Exceedance at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, one of five yearlings it purchased in 2018 as part of a colts' fund it operates with investors such as Neil Werrett, Steve McCann, Colin Madden, Rupert Legh, Doug Alderslade, Glenlogan Park and Phoenix Thoroughbreds.
Exceedance as a yearling
"We've got a few guys involved with the farm as well as good clients and have got together a colts' fund. It’s not very big, but we try to buy four or five colts each year," Vinery Stud's General Manager Peter Orton said.
"We got Headwater that way. It’s just a good way to enjoy racing and have an opportunity to get onto some good colts. We just use our resources to source out the better ones and we have been quite lucky."
The colts' fund's class of 2018 has already produced the Group 1 placed Reloaded (Snitzel) as well as the twice-stakes placed Born A Warrior (I Am Invincible), but Orton has always held a high opinion of Exceedance, who he picked out from the Newgate Stud draft at Easter.
Peter Orton (right) said that Exceedance 'was a striking colt'
"We always highlight a few colts on paper and go around and have a look at them. We have always been a big fan of Exceed And Excel having reared him here at Vinery, plus Headwater is doing such a good job for us. They always seem to be on our radar," he said.
"Going through those colts, I saw him and he was a striking colt and he took my eye. We followed him through and he had a couple of issues that might have turned a few people off, but for me, he was a good tough colt and a lovely horse to take through."
"I saw him and he was a striking colt and he took my eye." - Peter Orton
Orton's initial high opinion of the colt, the first living foal from stakes-winning mare Bonnie Mac (NZ) (Thorn Park), was vindicated by the opinion of both those who broke him in and Team Hawkes, who would train him.
"We break them in ourselves at home and he was the pick of the breaker from the group. He went down to the Hawkes' and they loved him from the beginning, but he was still a bit immature. He went shin sore a couple of times on us but we’ve been really patient with him and he's now ready to go," Orton said.
Out on the track
Exceedance debuted with an impressive maiden success at Wyong, surging over the top of his rivals before really catching the eye at his second start at Rosehill, charging home from back in the field to finish third.
Rather than press on with that campaign, Team Hawkes opted for a patient approach, with an eye to targeting him at the better 3-year-old races early in the spring.
"There's a lot of pressure when you have a handy 2-year-old to keep racing him to prove yourself. You can really knock a lot of horses around," Orton said. "If you are in the Hawkes stables, they look after their horses very well."
"He showed he had 2-year-old ability, and precocity, which is an important trademark and he is now back to have that opportunity to show the horse he is."
"He showed he had 2-year-old ability, and precocity." - Peter Orton
There appeared two major obstacles to his first-up success in the San Domenico. The first was the Godolphin colt Bivouac (Exceed And Excel), who was an impressive 4.25l winner of the G3 Vain S. at Caulfield last time out, a performance which had him as a $1.30 favourite on Saturday.
The second was the heavy track, which Orton said the colt had very limited exposure to. While the conditions weren't ideal, it was decided the colt needed the run to get his campaign underway.
As is so often the case with John Hawkes, the master trainer pulled the right rein and Exceedance powered over the top of Bivouac to win comfortably by two lengths.
"We didn’t like the ground, but I loved the attitude he showed," Orton said. "He just put his head down and got on with it. The more he went around, the more he dug in."
"I wouldn’t say he's an out-and-out wet tracker, but he's the sort of horse that floats across the ground and does handle things, which is the sign of a very good horse."
Golden path most likely
Orton said the owners will be guided by Hawkes and his co-trainers and sons, Michael and Wayne, on where they go next but a path to the G1 Golden Rose S. makes sense.
"It’s possible he will get a mile. He's a lovely tall, scopey horse and you’d say he'd get that far but he's still a bit immature and he's got a fair bit of brilliance," he said.
"I think in the spring, there's no real need to push him out there yet, but he's in the Golden Rose and we’ll see how he goes with that. We are keen to look at the (G1) Coolmore (Stud S.) too. The Hawkes will work that out for us."
Michael Hawkes
The Hawkes are renowned as trainers who can make a stallion, including Vinery's own trio Star Turn, All Too Hard and Headwater and Orton and the other owners are happy to let them lead the way on Exceedance, who he describes as having a very bright future.
"He's got enormous potential going forward. We are aware of what the sons of Exceed And Excel are starting to do and he shapes up well from a pedigree perspective. He's a beautiful looking horse and he has lovely size and quality," he said.
"He's out of a lovely balanced family, a good genuine, high-winner-ratio family. Pedigree depth is always important. He's got all those qualities."
