Team Hawkes trained Exceedance and now they can’t get enough of his first-crop winners like Saturday’s very promising debutant Brave One.
Exceedance has sired 7 individual winners this season with Brave One following his recent Rosehill-winning stablemate Swiftfalcon. He tracked the favourite Mayfair (Fastnet Rock) and worked home purposefully in the Heavy 9 conditions that prevailed at Randwick.
The stablemates are both black-type prospects for Vinery Stud’s exciting freshman who has already sired Group 3 winners Dublin Down (ATC Pago Pago Stakes & VRC Maribyrnong Plate) and Flyer (SAJC David Coles Stakes).
Co-trainer Michael Hawkes was caught up in the moment as Zac Lloyd returned to scale after the first of his four wins on Saturday. “We can’t get enough of the Exceedances and we’ve loved them since they arrived in the stable.”
Hawkes also confirmed he had called Vinery general manager Peter Orton on Friday searching for other likely types by Exceedance. “I asked Peter to find me more. I rate him highly and this bloke is up there with the best of them.
“He just oozes class and looks a picture. He has been slow to mature so we might give him a freshen-up off that win. It was a class field even though it is the middle of winter.”
Brave One (2c Exceedance – Runway Star by Northern Meteor) is an Inglis/Vinery sale graduate and was bred by Vinery partners Neil Werrett, Greg Perry, Steve McCann and Alan Green along with Pat Hodgens. They sold him to Team Hawkes and a Rupert Legh Racing syndicate for $300,000 at the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
His sire and dam both carried Vinery’s Green & White V silks – Runway Star had been a three-time black-type winner to Group 3 level in the SAJC Proud Miss Stakes (1200m). “We first saw him before the yearling sales when we were touring the Hunter Valley,” Michael’s brother Wayne Hawkes recalled. “Dad liked him at first sight and getting the one you want was a plus last year.”
Exceedance (Exceed And Excel) eclipsed the nation’s leading 3yo sprinters the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington and his exceptional start at stud saw the yearling full-sister to Dublin Down make $520,000 to the Ladbrokes Racing Club at this year’s Inglis Easter Sale.
Vinery also sold a full-brother to Brave One for $330,000 to Chris Waller at Riverside Stables in April. “He presented as a very strong type during our inspections,” Waller’s bloodstock adviser Guy Mulcaster said. “The price was within our budget and Chris was keen on him, too.”
Exceedance stands for an unchanged $33,000 (inc GST) service fee at Vinery with payment on a live foal. For bookings or further information, contact Adam, Harry, McKoy or Peter on (02) 6543 8333. This year’s Vinery Open Days are on Saturday 24 August and Sunday 25 August. Gates open at 8:30am and the stallions start parading at 9am.
Registration for this event is essential so that it can be accurately catered to avoid wastage. Contact McKoy on (02) 6543 8333 or mckoy@vinery.com.au
