Exceed And Excel is the dominant sire in Australia at present. With the brilliance of Guelph on display again in yesterday’s Gr1 Thousand Guineas and on the back of being Champion sire in 2012-13 and currently with 73 stakes winners on his resume he is a class act.
Exceed And Excel
He is also the leading sire of winners in the past 7 days with 8 winners and is also the leading sire of winners in the past 30 days with 27 winners. Whilst for the season to date, he is sharing honours with Fastnet Rock with both having sired 48 winners each.
As a champion first-season sire who has now made it all the way to the top, Darley’s reigning champion stallion Exceed And Excel has little to prove to anyone.
The only bridge left for him to cross is becoming a sire of sires and standing at Chatswood Stud is Reward for Effort his fastest son who is well poised to take Exceed And Excel to that next level.
REWARD FOR EFFORT
Breeders lucky enough to have a mare in foal to Reward for Effort can feel well pleased with themselves.
Earlier this year, his three-quarter sister Overreach has won the Golden Slipper, and was recently crowned Australia’s Champion 2yo of 2012-13. Whilst as a sire, he has gone from strength to strength.
OVERREACH
Victorian breeders have been aware to the improving stocks of Group 1 MRC Blue Diamond Stakes winner Reward for Effort, who covered 150 mares in his first crop and that increased in number to 173 mares in his second season last year, putting him in the top 10 of Australia’s busiest sires for 2012.
In fact, he was the busiest of all Australian second-season sires in 2012, covering more mares than both his high- profile peers Rothesay and Star Witness.
Ongoing strong bookings to a sire speak volumes for his potential and Reward for Effort’s first foals did the talking for him. Covering his third season in 2013, on the strength of bookings and coverings to date, Reward For Effort will be expecting to cover around 200 mares.
His oldest progeny are now yearlings and will undoubtedly be a feature of next year’s Inglis Premier yearling sale, Victoria’s flagship bloodstock event.
“We’re very positive about them and believe they will prove appealing in the market-place,” said Melbourne-based Inglis bloodstock director Peter Heagney.
“Exceed And Excel couldn’t be going any better, which is a big plus, and Reward for Effort was a brilliant two-year-old who won our best juvenile race in Victoria.
REWARD FOR EFFORT - Winning the Gr1 Blue Diamond
Raced by Dynamic Syndications under the care of leading trainer Peter Moody, “He’s a very good stamp of a horse and from what we’re seeing when we visit the farms, he’s passing that on to his offspring as there are some lovely yearlings out there.”
A Danehill-line sire who also carries the blood of Golden Slipper winners Rory’s Jester and Todman, Reward for Effort has all the elements for a successful stud career. Australian racing last year was dominated by Danehill-line sires, with seven of the top 10 sires by earnings for 2012/13 sired either by Danehill or by one of his sons.
As much as breeders might like the idea of an outcross sireline, it’s hard to ignore what gets the results week in, week out and Reward for Effort fits the established profile for success.
“We’re certainly looking forward to offering the progeny of Reward for Effort in our sales and he’s the sort of sire that could easily become a great asset for Victoria,” Heagney added.
Reward for Effort remains at a fee of $11,000 this year, offering tremendous scope for financial upside if as expected his offspring come out running.