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Trained at first by Francois Mathet and later by Maurice Zilber, Exceller didn't accomplish much at two, but
blossomed as the distances got longer his three-year-old season. While stablemates Empery and Youth were
taking down the French and English Derbys, Exceller pounded out wins in the grueling Prix de Royal Oak (run
at 1 7/8 mile) and the Grand Prix de Paris. Shipped to England at 4, he wound up a half-length behind The
Minstrel and Orange Bay in one of the most exciting King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes
ever run and annexed the Coronation Cup. Sent on to Woodbine, he won the Canadian International. In the middle of 1977, Exceller was sent to California and placed in the care of Charlie Whittingham.
Whittingham didn't have high expectations for the horse, who walked stiffly on arrival and seemed worse for
wear. A little time off and some of the Whittingham magic had Exceller running with and beating the best
horses in America in short order. As a five-year-old in 1978, Exceller had his best season on the racecourse, winning 7 of 10 starts, all in top
company, on both dirt and turf. After claiming the Hollywood Gold Cup, Hollywood Invitational Turf
Handicap, San Juan Capistrano, Sunset Handicap, Oak Tree Invitational, Exceller had his crowning moment.
With Bill Shoemaker in the saddle, Exceller came from 22 lengths back to beat Seattle Slew and Affirmed in
the Jockey Club Gold Cup. To be fair, Affirmed's saddle had slipped, effectively taking him out of
the race, and Slew had been hanging up almost suicidal fractions, but Exceller still powered through the
Belmont mud to win by a nose. He came back again at six and managed some nice placings, but was not quite
the same horse.
In sum, he had won 15 of 33 starts, including 13 stakes races, and placed in 11 more in France, England, Canada
and the United States and had earned $1,654,003. He was the only horse in history to defeat two Triple Crown
winners. Most racing writers agree that, along with Gallant Man, he may have been the best horse to race in
America and not win a year-end championship.
Exceller ran best, like many European horses, "covered up"--deep in the pack early. In the late stages of the
race he produced a powerful burst of speed and caught the leaders in the stretch. Exceller's final quarter mile
times are nothing short of amazing: he regularly sprinted the final quarter in under 25 seconds. His fractions
of 23 2/5 seconds at the end of the Hollywood Gold Cup and Oak Tree Invitational is amazing when you
consider that 23 seconds is a smoking *first* quarter in such a race. Exceller was syndicated and retired to stud at Gainesway Farm in Lexington Kentucky for the 1980 breeding
season. He shared a small stallion barn with his sire Vaguely Noble and classic-winning champion stablemate
Youth. In 1986 (and probably before), he stood for a $50,000 stud fee, the second-highest listed fee at
Gainesway. To put this in perspective, champions Bates Motel and Temperence Hill also stood for $50,000,
future top sire Mt. Livermore stood for $20,000, Youth stood for $12,500 and current top-10 sire Cozzene
stood for an amazing $7,500!
As time went on, however, it became obvious that Exceller was never going to be a leading sire. By 1991, his
stud fee had plummeted to $2,500. Out of the 32 stallions at Gainesway that year whose fees were listed, only
the aging Cannonade had a lower fee. In 1991, the syndicate was bought out by a breeder from Sweden and
Exceller was shipped back across the Atlantic. The rest of the story is told by the Daily Racing Form. Exceller left behind 16 crops of foals, including 19 stakes winners and 40 stakes horses, none of them of his
quality. His runners were headed by Slew's Exceller and Squan Song. The Thoroughbred Times lists 5 of his
sons standing the 2001 breeding season: Champion Pilot (in Australia), Exattic (in New Zealand), Expedition
Moon (in Kansas), Magliore (in Illinois) and Verification (in West Virginia). Exceller is also the broodmare sire
of the young stallion Cat's Career (out of Comical Cat) and the speedy mare Reciclada(Chi) (out of Exing),
among many others.
Exceller was elected to the National Racing Hall of Fame in 1999. The plaque in the museum makes no
mention of the manner of his death, only that he died in 1997. Exceller was walked to a Swedish slaughter
house and turned over to meet his grisley, undeserved end. The
Exceller Fund and many of the other thoroughbred rescue
groups are ample evidence of the lives he touched. All of the horses saved by these groups are his legacy, as
much as his sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters are.
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2004 - 2009 Manes & Tails Organization |
