Sydney colt Exceedance proved to be the best colt on the day when he dashed home to win the Group 1 $1.5m Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) at Flemington today.

Exceedance, above in green and white colours, raced pass Bivouac to win the 2019 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington. Photo by Steve Hart.

Exceedance, above in green and white colours, raced pass Bivouac to win the 2019 Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington. Photo by Steve Hart.

Co-trainer Wayne Hawkes expects Exceedance ($3.80) now to develop into a successful future stallion after beating the Golden Rose winner Bivouac ($3.30) favourite) by half a length.

Anthony Cummings’ filly Libertini was next in the betting at $4.80 and ran a mighty race to find third spot.

“It was a great race and the best part about it was probably that the three best horses in the race ran one two three and franked the form for all these colts and fillies,” said Wayne Hawkes who trains in partnership with his father John and brother Michael.

“They are a great bunch of three year olds and so we have some good horses going into the Autumn.”

“He is probably a ten or fifteen million dollar stallion.”

Exceedance was squeezed out at the start and settled in the second half of the field that raced down the middle of the Flemington straight .

Winning jockey Dwayne Dunn then went searching for runs and switched back to the inside rail to make his winning move.

Bivouac had shot to the front at the 300m but Exceedance soon hit top gear to claim the lead at the 100m to secure the win.

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.