Vinery has been a great beneficiary of the stallion-making abilities of John Hawkes and his sons Michael and Wayne, with Exceedance likely to join fellow Hawkes graduates All Too Hard, Star Turn and Headwater on the famous farm's roster in the coming years, after his win in the G1 Coolmore Stud S.
The win down the Flemington straight was a great vindication of Orton's eye for a good horse, having picked out the son of Exceed And Excel at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in 2018 for $180,000 on behalf of a colts partnership involving several of Vinery's biggest supporters.
Exceedance as a yearling
But he is adamant the praise belongs with the stable, who have been able to develop the colt into a Group 1 winner at just his sixth start.
"They just go about it with great responsibility and patience. They are able to keep a routine up to the colts. Colts always have personalities and they can't always be pushed and they certainly can't be knocked around, they resent that," Orton told TDN AusNZ.
"They just go about it with great responsibility and patience... Colts always have personalities and they can't always be pushed." - Peter Orton
"When you are dealing with young colts, you have to remember like we do at the farm, that they are adolescents. You've got to get the best out of that and not suppress it.
"Hawkes are very good at keeping colts focussed. They are very good trainers and conditioners. You saw what has happened with this horse, John Hawkes is the master of it and he had him peaking beautifully on the day."
Exceedance was coming off a five-week break from his third in the G1 Golden Rose, which was tricky in terms of keeping him ticking along in what is just his second preparation. Orton felt the way John Hawkes managed that was crucial to the horse bringing his best against what was a top-class field on Saturday.
"They backed off him and let the horse freshen. He spent a week out on the farm and then two weeks down here in Melbourne," he said
Orton also praised the cool ride of Dwayne Dunn, who having his first race ride on the colt, found himself in a tricky position before switching him back to the inside to charge late and pick up both Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) and Libertini (I Am Invincible).
Dwayne Dunn
"Dwayne was on him and he's a proper horseman," Orton said. "Everything went wrong in the run early on, we had drawn wide, which appeared the best place to be on the day, but every time he walked forward, another door shut and he ended up back on the rail.
"It was typical Dwayne, a cool head, he didn’t panic and set the horse up to allow him to do his thing."
Autumn clashes much anticipated
Having turned the tables on Bivouac, Exceedance will have a spell and return for what Orton hopes will be a series of clashes against the Godolphin colt, as well as The Everest winner Yes Yes Yes (Rubick), who split the pair in the Golden Rose, and Libertini, who showed her quality on Saturday.
"It's going to be a great autumn for those horses all up against each other. It's been a great year of 3-year-olds and to be competitive and land one of the big races is a big deal," he said.
"It's going to be a great autumn for those horses all up against each other. It's been a great year of 3-year-olds." - Peter Orton
Exceedance is the latest success for the Vinery colts partnership, with Rupert Legh, Neil Werrett, Steve McCann, Phoenix Thoroughbreds, Colin and Jannene Madden, Glenlogan Park and Doug Alderslade in the ownership along with Vinery and Orton himself.
While the colts group continues to have success, Orton said it won’t change their approach going forward.
Exceedance returning to scale after winning the G1 Coolmore Stud S.
"We've had some good luck, we've bought five and three of them have been a little bit special. It's a partnership with some good people with a view that if we want to race a horse, we can commit at that level and buy at that level and hopefully we can have success like we did yesterday," he said.
"It gives us a bit more confidence to keep going like that. Racing is very important for breeding and that connection between the two is really important. We'll keep doing what we are doing and keeping a balance to it."
