Xcellent (foaled 29 November 2001 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

) is a

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse who was trained by

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

& Paul Moroney. He won 6 races from his first 9 career starts, including four

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

s - The New Zealand Derby and New Zealand Stakes at

Ellerslie Racecourse Ellerslie Racecourse is the main racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand, for thoroughbred racehorses. It is an undulating, grass circuit in the suburb of Ellerslie, New Zealand, Ellerslie, with a circumference of just under 1,900 metres. Racing ...

, and the Mudgway Stakes and Kelt Capital Stakes at Hastings. On 1 November 2005, he ran third in the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is an annual Group 1 Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia, at the Flemington Racecourse. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and older, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club that forms part of the ...

, behind three-time winner Makybe Diva. In early 2006, Xcellent damaged both front tendons and was out of action for 18 months before returning to the track in the 2007 Stradbroke Handicap and doing little on an unsuitably wet track under a large weight. Beginning another campaign in December 2007, he remained unbeaten in New Zealand in scoring a stunning win first up in the Group 3 Sir James Fletcher Stakes over 1600m at Ellerslie against a strong field including the likes of Sir Slick and fellow Derby winner Wahid. He suffered his only defeat in New Zealand when finishing second to Sir Slick in the Group 1 Zabeel Classic at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. In January 2008, Xcellent won the Group 3 Trentham Stakes. However, he pulled up sore after that race, and had to be led back riderless to the birdcage. It was discovered he had ruptured a suspensory ligament and his retirement was announced the following day. In the 2005-06

World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf R ...

: 1 August 2005 – 31 July 2006, Xcellent was ranked 18th by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. He was the New Zealand Horse of the Year in both the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons.

References

{{Reflist
The 2005-06 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings: 1 August 2005 – 31 July 2006

Xcellent website

Xcellent takes Horse of the Year award

Xcellent's pedigree and stats
2001 racehorse births Racehorses bred in New Zealand Racehorses trained in New Zealand Thoroughbred family 7-d

See also

References