Despite facing the huge hurdle of being a contemporary of the brilliant Frankel, Excelebration won three of Europe’s most important mile races, the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II S., Gr.1 Prix du Moulin and Gr.1 Prix Jacques le Marois. He also won two of his three juvenile starts, took the German 2,000 Guineas by seven lengths, the Hungerford S. by six and finished runner-up to Frankel on four occasions.

Excelebration’s sire, the champion Australian sprinter Exceed And Excel, became the fourth son of Danehill to become champion sire in Australia when he topped the list in 2012/13. He also became champion sire of two-year-olds by a considerable margin, thanks to a magnificent total of seven Group winners. Excelebration is therefore well qualified to sire leading two-year-olds which train on.

Excelebration comes from a female line which produced the Arc second Leggera to SADLER’S WELLS. It is therefore no surprise that Excelebration has sired the top-class St James’s Palace Stakes winner Barney Roy from a GALILEO mare, plus the Group-placed Pellucid. Exceed And Excel also has an encouraging record with GALILEO mares, notably siring the Gr.1-placed Folkswood and a 2yo Listed winner. Exceed And Excel has a Gr.2 juvenile winner out of a SADLER’S WELLS mare, and also has a smart son with a dam by FAIRY KING. Exceed And Excel also has several Group winners out of grand-daughters of SADLER’S WELLS, including the Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Outstrip out of an EL PRADO mare. Excelebration could therefore be an ideal means of injecting speed and precocity into mares from this excellent line. More mares by GALILEO are clearly called for and daughters of HIGH CHAPARRAL, BARATHEA, IN THE WINGS and MONTJEU all have to be considered, especially as Helmet, one of Exceed And Excel’s best Australian winners, is out of a mare by SINGSPIEL.

Excelebration’s ability at up to a mile could be reinforced by the faster members of the MR PROSPECTOR line, such as mares by MACHIAVELLIAN, KINGMAMBO, WOODMAN and MISWAKI. He had a 200,000gns yearling in 2017 out of a MACHIAVELLIAN mare and a 110 rated 2yo out of a MEDICEAN mare. Exceed And Excel sired the smart Buratino from a KINGMAMBO mare and he has a particularly good record with mares by GONE WEST’s son ELUSIVE QUALITY (18 per cent black-type winners, including seven Group winners, headed by multiple Gr.1 winner Guelph and those speedy performers Yalta and Cotai Glory). He also has Group winners out of mares by SEEKING THE GOLD, MACHIAVELLIAN, GONE WEST and KING’S BEST. Daughters of ZAFONIC, ZAMINDAR, MR GREELEY and SPEIGHTSTOWN come in to the picture.

The GREEN DESERT male line looks a sure-fire route to producing smart sprinter-milers by Excelebration. Mares by CAPE CROSS, DESERT PRINCE, DESERT STYLE, INVINCIBLE SPIRIT, KHELEYF and OASIS DREAM are prime candidates. They produce 4×4 to Danzig, with CAPE CROSS also producing 4×4 to AHONOORA.

Although mares by such as DANEHILL DANCER, DANSILI, DANETIME, HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR and ROCK OF GIBRALTAR create 3×3 to DANEHILL, it is worth remembering that the high-class sprinter Hoof It and the Gr.1 winner Astaire are inbred this way. Exceed And Excel’s top Australian daughter Guelph is inbred 2×3 to DANEHILL.

Exceed And Excel and the other Danehill stallions inbred 3×3 to Northern Dancer have all shone with the SHARPEN UP male line. Holy Roman Emperor sired the 1,000 Guineas winner Homecoming Queen from a DIESIS mare, while KRIS is the broodmare sire of Group winners by Exceed And Excel and Rock of Gibraltar. There are also Gr.1 winners out of daughters of SELKIRK and TREMPOLINO.

The BLUSHING GROOM line has proved an excellent match for these Danehill stallions with 3×3 inbreeding to Northern Dancer. ROCK OF GIBRALTAR has three Group winners out of RAINBOW QUEST mares and another out of a NASHWAN mare. Exceed And Excel has Group winners with dams by RAHY and by Rainbow Quest’s sons QUEST FOR FAME and SPECTRUM.

Other classic influences who should suit are BERING, whose daughters have Group winners by Rock of Gibraltar and Desert King and Gr.1 winners by two other sons of Danehill. Exceed And Excel has Group winners out of mares by DARSHAAN, MARK OF ESTEEM and DALAKHANI, plus another out of a mare by Dalakhani’s close relative DAYLAMI.

Daughters of PIVOTAL and KYLLACHY could produce very useful juveniles with Excelebration.

Exceptional three-time Gr.1 winning miler

At 2 Years

At 3 Years

Timeform rated 133-only Frankel was higher!

At 4 Years:

ALL HIS STARTS