Sky’s the limit as Exceed And Excel filly shines bright in Welcome Stakes
Juvenile lights up the Riccarton track in golden week for Darley’s champion sire
Enduring champion stallion Exceed And Excel (Danehill), renowned for the exploits of his two-year-olds and as an elite sire more generally, has left his mark on juvenile races in three continents in less than a week, providing another reminder about the 22-year-old’s global prowess.
In New Zealand yesterday, Te Akau Racing’s filly Sky On Fire, a daughter of the Darley sire, produced a sustained burst of speed to land the Welcome Stakes (Listed, 1000m) at Riccarton on the middle day of the famous South Island carnival.
On the other side of the world, at the Breeders’ Cup meeting at Keeneland in the US at the weekend, Exceed And Excel’s son, Mischief Magic, won the Juvenile Turf Sprint (Gr 1, 5.5f), his fourth juvenile win from six starts, under the training of Charlie Appleby.
Exceed And Excel is also the sire of Godolphin’s homebred juvenile colt Barber, who made it two wins in as many starts with victory in last Saturday’s $1 million Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill, and the James Cummings-trained stablemate Zulfiqar, another colt who won the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (Listed, 1000m) at Flemington in October.
A day after the release of the 2023 Magic Millions Yearling Sale catalogue, the Gold Coast graduate from this year’s auction scored the important Listed victory, a New Zealand black-type win which adds to her own and her dam’s already significant residual value.
“It was a rarity to be able to buy an Exceed And Excel filly, as most breeders keep them, and now she’s a stakes winner at her third start, so it’s a very exciting outcome for the owners,” Te Akau principal David Ellis said yesterday after the victory of Sky On Fire, a $400,000 purchase early on day one of this year’s Magic Millions sale.
“Exceed and Excel has been a sensational stallion for a long time, globally, (and) we loved her as a type with her great constitution.
“She was very well–developed with plenty of natural muscle, rich colour, a terrifically athletic walk and she was a cracking first foal, which we have had so much success with.”
Sky On Fire, who had finished runner-up at her first two starts over 800 metres at Otaki and Riccarton, again demonstrated her elite speed from the barriers to lead the Welcome Stakes field.
After being eyeballed and challenged for much of the race by Rubicon Crossing (Rubick), she rallied strongly to score by three–quarters of a length over the stablemate, while Rhetorical (Snitzel) was three–quarters of a length away in third to complete a Te Akau trifecta in the Listed race.
Rhetorical had beaten her stablemates home at Riccarton on October 22, but could not match them in New Zealand’s first two-year-old stakes race of the season.
“We are proud of all three of them. They all ran great races and all of them deserve a bit of a holiday now. A stakes performance for their pedigrees is a big help as well,” Te Akau trainer Mark Walker said.
“Sky On Fire just had the benefit of going down the chute last start which was a big help. All three have got bright futures.”
A Group 2, 1200-metre race looms as Sky On Fire’s and Rubicon Crossing’s autumn target, with Walker indicating a tilt at the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) was off the cards.
Te Akau Racing, with the now Hong Kong-based trainer Jamie Richards in charge, campaigned two-year-old filly Bright Blue Sky (Fastnet Rock) in Queensland last season and contested the $2 million race on the Gold Coast in January.
“She will head back to Te Akau Stud for a nice little break and get ready for the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes,” Walker said of Sky On Fire.
“Rubicon Crossing is in the same boat. She is a Magic Millions filly and will also look at the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes and Rhetorical will go home and get ready for the Karaka Million.
“I think with her experience she can be a factor in the Karaka Million. She didn’t win today, but she didn’t let us down either. They are all nice fillies.”
Sydney jockey Josh Parr answered an SOS from Te Akau to ride at the Riccarton carnival when stable rider Opie Bosson was suspended, making it a second stakes win for the week for the stable, on Sky On Fire.
“I was comfortable in front. I was confident in her ability to run that kind of speed and still produce a turn of foot,” Parr said.
“I got a nice feel for her on Monday morning at trackwork so that gave me a nice lead into today. We went along at a strong tempo and it would have been nice to have had a half second breather.
“All credit to the team, they got this horse here in great order and I am the one lucky enough to win on her.”
Eureka Stud will offer Sky On Fire’s Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) half-sister as Lot 823 at next year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Eureka Stud’s Harry McAlpine, who also acts as an independent bloodstock agent, purchased Sky On Fire’s dam Elusive Meteor (Northern Meteor), a two-time winner in New Zealand, for $200,000 from the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale – with the Welcome Stakes winner in utero – for Queensland breeder John Wagstaff.
Already a wise investment, given Sky On Fire sold for twice that figure to Ellis at this year’s Gold Coast sale, Elusive Meteor, herself a half-sister to the Group 2-placed Aristocratic Miss (Foxwedge), also has a filly at foot by Spirit Of Boom.
She is back in foal to Eureka Stud’s prolific sire of winners, including his Group 1-winning son Jonker.
Darley’s Exceed And Excel, who stands at a fee of $132,000 (inc GST) in his 19th season at stud, has 25 of his 68 yearlings catalogued at the Magic Millions sale in 2023.