Xcellent (foaled 29 November 2001 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

) is a

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse who was trained by

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

& Paul Moroney. He won 6 races from his first 9 career starts, including four Group Ones - The New Zealand Derby and

New Zealand Stakes The New Zealand Stakes currently run as the Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes is a Group One thoroughbred horse race in New Zealand. It is run at Ellerslie racecourse on the final day of the Auckland Cup Week Carnival in March for a stake of $200 ...

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, with a circumference of just under 1,900 metres. Racing is conducted in a clockwi ...

, and the

Mudgway Stakes The Tarzino Trophy also known as the Challenge Stakes is a Thoroughbred horse race run at Hastings Racecourse in Hawke's Bay and is New Zealand's first Group One race of the season. It is run over a distance of 1400m in September. The race is the ...

and

Kelt Capital Stakes The Livamol Classic is a Weight-for-age Thoroughbred horse race run at Hastings Racecourse in Hawke's Bay and was at one stage New Zealand's richest horse race. It is run at a distance of 2040m. The race is run in October. The weather in the Ha ...

at Hastings. On 1 November 2005, he ran third in the

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melb ...

, 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 Wahid or Waheed is an Arabic masculine given name, meaning "One", "Absolute One". Al-Wahid is one of the 99 names of Allah. Given name * Waheed Akhtar (1934–1996), * Waheed Alli, Baron Alli (born 1964), British multimillionaire media entrepre ...

. He suffered his only defeat in New Zealand when finishing second to Sir Slick in the Group 1

Zabeel Classic The Zabeel Classic is a Group One Thoroughbred horse race run at weight-for-age over a distance of 2000 metres at Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland, New Zealand. It is held on Boxing Day, a raceday steeped in tradition that frequently attracts in e ...

at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. In January 2008, Xcellent won the Group 3

Trentham Stakes The Trentham Stakes is a Group 3 weight-for-age race held for thoroughbred racehorses at Trentham Racecourse near Wellington, New Zealand conducted by the Wellington Racing Club. Held over 2100 metres in January, it is seen as the main lead-up ...

. 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