Third-crop stallion Exceed And Excel is enjoying a purple patch with his runners at present with no fewer than eight winners in the last seven days and a black type finish for Excellerator in Listed Cecil Frail Stakes on Saturday, in which she finished third.
Fifty per cent of his winners have been two-year-olds, a reminder that his sustained popularity emanates from the fact that he consistently sires plenty of fast juvenile winners with each new crop that hits the racecourse.
Moonlit Garden looks like a filly with a bright future after making all the running to land the six-furlong maiden by three lengths at the Curragh on Irish 1,000 Guineas day. A £50,000 breeze-up purchase, her highly impressive racecourse debut means she will now head straight to Royal Ascot where the G2 Queen Mary Stakes is her intended target.
Excel Bolt is another recent first-time-out juvenile winner for Exceed And Excel and, despite being a newcomer, he started evens favourite for his debut at Musselburgh. His five-length victory could also see him Ascot bound, trainer Bryan Smart citing the G2 Norfolk Stakes as a target after a possible interim run.
Exceed And Excel has already tasted juvenile success at Royal Ascot with Flashmans Papers, who won the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes in 2008 and followed up two days later with a game fourth place in the Norfolk Stakes. Now four, the Cliveden Stud-bred colt continues to race successfully in the US, where he has added the Listed Eddie Logan Stakes to his black type tally.
