NEWS: Exceed And Excel colt tops Day One at Magic Millions at $1.1 million
By Mike Hedge
Lot 226: Colt by Exceed And Excel x Dream In Colour
Exceed And Excel has set the standard at Wednesday’s opening session of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale with his colt from the unraced Frankel mare Dream In Colour making $1.1 million.
The session-topping colt consigned by Milburn Creek entered the ring as Lot 255 and went to the bid of Tom Magnier.
On a day when yearlings by Darley stallions first-season stallion Asternwas also in high demand, it was Exceed And Excel who produced the goods with a member of his 14th Australian crop.
As well as the Dream In Colour colt, Exceed And Excel was responsible for the day’s fourth-highest priced yearling, Lot 226, a colt from the Dehere mare De Groove who went to Hong Kong-based George Moore Bloodstock for $900,000.
Exceed And Excel also topped the day-one averages at $588,000 for his five yearlings to sell.
Like father like son, Lot 226 shares his fathers looks
While there is plenty to recommend him at the top of his page, the top-priced colt has an impressive pedigree laid out all the way down.
His second dam, the Stakes winner Colour is out of Regrowth, who also possesses Black Type and in turn, is a daughter of the great producer True Blonde whose family includes the good racehorses and leading sires Snippets and Not A Single Doubt.
True Blonde is also the dam of Prove It, the mother of the G1 Golden Slipper winner Forensics.
With the recent G3-winning performance of his brother Big Party at Sha Tin fresh in his memory, Moore dominated the bidding for the Exceed And Excel-De Groove colt, one of two he signed for on the day.
“His brother has shown outstanding ability in Hong Kong, winning his past two starts,” Moore said.
“He’s got the looks to match his pedigree and you can’t say enough about Exceed And Excel.”
The colt was offered by Bhima Thoroughbreds.
Lot 226's outstanding pedigree
Moore’s earlier Exceed And Excel purchase was Lot 330, a colt from the Pins mare Whistling Dixie offered by Segenhoe Stud who made $330,000.
Another yearling with a strong Hong Kong connection, he is closely related to the Stakes winner Victory Magic.
The arrival in the sale ring of the first crop of Astern set off a flurry of bidding on day one of the Magic Millions Yearling Gold Coast yearling sale in Queensland with the young Darley stallion standing proud among the newcomers.
The highlight of Astern’s sale-ring debutants was the bay colt from the Anabaa mare Zimaretto who made $725,000.
A half-brother to three Stakes winners, the colt consigned by Yarraman Park and cataloged as Lot 59 was purchased by Asian Bloodstock Services.
The same buyer bought the colt’s Stakes-winning half-brother California Zimbol at the 2018 Magic Millions Sale.
Calfornia Zimbol is one Zimaretto’s five foals to race, all of them winners including From Within and Cruden Bay who have both been successful at Stakes level.
Marie Yoshida, who signed for the colt on behalf of Asian Bloodstock Services said he had been a “must-have” among their intended purchases.
“It’s a bit higher than we wanted to pay, but we really wanted this colt,” Yoshida said. “We’ve been lucky before purchasing from Yarraman with California Zimbol and we like the Medaglia d’Oro sire line.”
Astern went to stud as Medaglia D’Oro’s highest-rated son having won the G1 Golden Rose along with three other Stakes prizes.
The Zimaretto colt was one of three Astern yearlings to sell on Wednesday, all of them making six figures.
