When hard work and plans actually go right there is no more satisfying feeling in all of horse racing. Excellent Point (EXCEED AND EXCEL – SHARP AWAKENING) is a perfect example of a horse that has experienced the highs and lows of racing but has now well and truly turned the corner. This preparation, the 6yo gelding has shown that he is a genuine Sydney class horse and continues to step up to the mark every time he hits the racetrack.
Excellent Point before heading to the barrier at Rosehill in November
We originally bought Excellent Point from the 2008 William Inglis Classic Sale for $115,000 and right from the start, there was hope that he was going to be an excellent galloper. Bred on the extremely successful Danehill – Selkirk cross, Excellent Point looked a readymade racehorse from the time we saw him at the sales. The exact cross had produced dual Gr1 winner Mount Nelson and Gr1 Falmouth Stakes winner Simply Perfect, among a number of other stakes victors. He was a well-balanced individual, a great walker with a good 7-8 inch overstep, had a strong hindquarter with excellent shoulder angulations and was tough and correct! He ticked all the boxes of Dynamic Syndications tough selection process and we knew that we had to have him.
It took him just four starts to break his maiden before he became the victim of circumstance and couldn’t seem to break through for that second win despite a series of placings. This became increasingly frustrating however our loyal and patient group of owners failed to waiver and a change to Newcastle based trainer Darren Smith had an immediate effect. He won his first start for Darren and went on to record another win and two placings for Darren during his first preparation at Broadmeadow!
Excellent Point has been a different horse since arriving at Darren's
The tough times looked to be over but as is the case with racing, it threw another curve ball straight at us right when Excellent Point was due back at the track. An injury caused a long layoff and it then became a waiting game. Once again, this sensational team of owners remained upbeat as they had seen the ability that his pedigree promised during the previous preparation. The just reward is now shining brightly upon his owners with Excellent Point progressing through the grades at a rate of knots.
This time in Excellent Point just keep finding a new level!
His first up run was at provincial grade, a BM70 at Newcastle in which his true colours shown through winning by a ½ length over 900m. His next start was a further step up in grade, a Benchmark 74 and a ATC transferred meeting at Kembla where he ran a superb race finishing 2nd lugging a massive weight in record time. The improvement did not stop there though as Excellent Point headed to town for a first attempt at a Saturday Meeting at Rosehill where he once again stepped up to the mark. In a BM84 race, he finished 2nd beaten only a half-length and closing that held total prizemoney of $85,000.
Excellent Point returning to scale after his Newcastle win
His last and arguably most impressive start to date came on Saturday when he finished 3rd beaten only 1.8l in a BM95 race. He tracked a hot speed on Saturday and at the furlong looked the winner however the eventual winner got the suck run behind us in transit and was hitting the line hard. Take absolutely nothing away from the superb run of Excellent Point as the race boasted stakes winners including My Vegas, Irish Dream, Avenay, Welkom Gold and Zaratone all whom he beat home comfortably. The growth and improvement in this gutsy galloper has been evident for all to see. The fact that they smashed the Class Record by a massive 0.89 secs (6 lengths) is a testament to the effort he put in.
He has progressed from a BM70 provincial horse at the start of this preparation to a genuine BM95 horse beating some of the best sprinter that are currently racing in Sydney. He has come a very long way in just a few weeks which is a perfect present for these loyal owners leading up to Christmas.
Looking ahead his target is on Saturday the 29th December at Canterbury back to a BM85 over 1250m. We will also put in a nomination for the ATC meeting at Gosford on the 19th December. This is a one Metro Win race over 1200m and in either race if he holds his form, he is likely to be very competitive! There is no doubting the improvement we have all seen in him and a big congratulations should go to Darren Smith and his team at Newcastle who have got him to this position. The team at Wild Oaks pre-training facility should also be very proud of their work in getting Excellent Point to the level where he is a genuine Saturday class galloper.
Excellent Point’s record now stands at 25: 4-6-3 for total prizemoney of $110,200.
Considering that statistics suggest that a good horse averages one win every seven starts, Excellent Point has done a brilliant job to date! However we did have to learn the hard way that he is a dry track horse and hates getting his feet wet. So we know to side step rain affected ground.
We are extremely proud of the efforts of our 6yo gelding who continues to prove that he is a serious racehorse every time he hits the track! It has been a big effort to get to this stage but we are extremely pleased for the owners of our Exceed and Excel sprinter and hope to see more positive results in the coming runs. Keep an eye on the website for more updates on Excellent Point and we congratulate the owners
(Dynamic Synd Excellent Point Synd, P Bonilla, J Ward, Indelible Synd, A Boyd, Craigphil Synd, Brad & Scott Synd, Ms P Leeper, P Tunnis & G Macandrews) who have gone through the highs and lows of racing to reach this point.
Jay Mathieson