Exceedance’s fee set at $38,500 to headline Vinery roster
Exhilarating sprinter Exceedance (Exceed And Excel) will stand for the same fee as two of his first season contemporaries after Vinery Stud yesterday confirmed the Group 1 winner would head the Hunter Valley farm’s 2020 roster of six stallions.
Successful in last year’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (registered as Ascot Vale Stakes) (Gr 1, 1200m), Exceedance’s fee has been set at $38,500 (all fees inclusive of GST), the same mark as Darley’s son of Exceed And Excel (Danehill) in Microphone and Everest (1200m) winner Yes Yes Yes (Rubick).
Vinery Stud general manager Peter Orton believes the former Team Hawkes-trained sprinter, who created a rivalry with Coolmore’s Yes Yes Yes and Darley’s Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) winner Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) during his nine-start career, was “a superior athlete” who he hopes is capable of passing on those attributes to his progeny.
“When you are looking to breed to a mare you are looking for a genuine sire line and a depth of pedigree with consistency there and you are looking for a superior athlete to sort the good ones out of the group,” Orton told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“He certainly proved multiple times what a great athlete he was, so he ticks all those boxes. He did win one of the better races, the Coolmore, which is regarded as a high-profile race for stallions going to stud.
“It’s nice to do that, but what you are looking at, in a broader sense, is a stallion that may not necessarily have won and been unlucky in some races and there’s others who have won races but have been a bit lucky to win them.”
Considered by many pundits to be an exceptionally strong three-year-old crop, Exceedance returned after a two-start juvenile career to take out the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) first-up before finishing third to Bivouac and Yes Yes Yes in both the Run To The Rose (Gr 2, 1200m) and Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m).
Once the target race was identified – the Coolmore Stud Stakes – Exceedance came up trumps when overhauling Bivouac in the $1.5 million Flemington feature.
Previous winners of the Coolmore to go to stud include Zoustar, his sire Northern Meteor and grandsire Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) as well as Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock), Flying Artie (Artie Schiller), Sepoy (Elusive Quality) and Star Witness (Starcraft).
Vinery Stud’s All Too Hard (Casino Prince), whose son Alligator Blood landed the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) in February, will remain at a fee of $27,500 while Star Turn (Star Witness) will stand for $16,500.
Orton said All Too Hard’s consistency as a stallion was starting to be rewarded, on the track and in the sales ring, and was at an affordable fee during the coronavirus pandemic.
“He’s proven that he gets so many runners and so many winners week in and week out, which supports breeders with their mares and their produce records,” he said.
“Commercially, they sell well in the ring and those who buy them to race find they are genuine horses who run for a good time and over a variation of distances.
“He’s certainly earned his spot and probably more, but in this environment we will keep him at this fee and in comparison to horses at a similar level, he is a great value horse.”
Emerging Vinery stallions Headwater (Exceed And Excel) and Press Statement (Hinchinbrook) had their fees lowered to $13,750 after making encouraging starts with their respective first crop two-year-olds this season. Casino Prince (Flying Spur) will stand for $5,500.
The appeal of Headwater and Press Statement could receive a boost during the Queensland winter carnival, specifically the J J Atkins Plate (Gr 1, 1400m), with the Toby and Trent Edmonds-trained Wisdom Of Water (Headwater) heading in that direction and a possible clash with Sydney colts Spokesman (Press Statement) and Newsreader (Press Statement).
On Headwater, Orton said: “They have taken a little bit of time to mature, which is interesting for that horse, but the ones we’re involved with and the ones we’re talking to are just coming into their own and we’re quite excited with what’s going to go on in the next six months.
“He’s a beautiful horse, he’s a great type and he’s got a pedigree who could throw up anything.
“Wisdom Of Water has that much talent about him and hopefully he flies the flag for us and there’s quite a few others mustering in behind him.”
Orton was not surprised that Press Statement’s stock are starting to show their wares as they matured.
“We did expect that the Press Statements would be hitting the board about now. Trainers love them because you can see that they are getting better and better and there’s a lot of variety in what they will do. They will be sprinter-milers,” he said.
“We’ve got a good one of Chris Waller’s, Spokesman, heading to the J J Atkins – he’s a quality horse – and maybe Newsreader will head up there, too. He’s a really popular horse.”
Star Turn’s first yearlings sold up to $550,000 this year and Orton is confident the stallion can make his mark early in the new season with his first crop two-year-olds.
“We’ve got great faith in this horse. He’s a real bull and was such a great racehorse and people did accept his types (at the sales),” he said.
“They look strong, early going horses, so they were well sought after. He’s certainly well set-up to have a real crack with his first runners. Anyone coming in on the back of that will do very well.”
Like all studmasters, the impact of Covid-19 has weighed heavily on service fee decisions and for Orton it was no different.
“With our returns this year, we are going to do it on a pay on live foal so breeders are paying for what they get to just give them a bit more time to get organised and be as fair as possible and to increase that opportunity for them,” he said.
“They are paying for what they get, rather than what they hope they get, which is the way it should be. We always trust our clients and look after them and this is guaranteeing them that.”
As expected, record-breaking shuttler More Than Ready (Southern Halo) will not return for a 20th southern hemisphere season while his son Pluck will also not stand at Vinery this year.
“More Than Ready’s in America and covering well and he is in great health,” Orton said.
“It’s great what he’s done for the farm. We’ll give him the respect that he deserves. He’s very popular over there where he stands for US$80,000, so that is the respect he is given over there. He can continue to cover a book and be ready to go next year.”
Vinery’s Adam White and Harry Roach are available to discuss breeders’ mating plans for this year and the stud’s fee announcement, and that of a raft of other stallion farms, comes just days out from the Inglis Chairman’s Sale on Friday for elite breeding prospects.
Vinery Stud service fees 2020
Exceedance $38,500
All Too Hard $27,500
Star Turn $16,500
Headwater $13,750
Press Statement $13,750
Casino Prince $5,500
*all fees inc. GST. Payment on live foal terms.