After jumping away well from the gates and sitting in third position throughout, Sultah asserted her superiority in the home straight to win the Bay FM Maiden Plate with authority. By taking out the 1000m event by just under a length, Sultah became the 15 individual two-year-old winner this season for her dual G1-winning sire Exceed And Excel.
Currently equal with Redoute’s Choice for the highest number of juvenile winners for the season, Exceed And Excel looks to have a very good chance to take the lead with a handful of starters to come over the weekend.
Eased down on the line, the David Hayes-trained two-year-old started a dominant favourtie after running extremely well on her debut back in February. Ridden by Dean Holland, the jockey was suitably impressed with the effort of the filly; indicating that while she appeared raw, there was a lot of ability there and she would be better suited over ground.
The third foal of the G1-performed Dehere mare Picholine, Sultah is a half-brother to dual G1-winning Reset four-year-old Rebel Raider and Shamardal’s G3 winner Shamoline Warrior. With three foals to race, all winners, Picholine is quickly establishing herself as a broodmare of the highest calibre. Currently in foal, carrying a full-relation to Rebel Raider, Picholine has been booked into leading third-season sire Lonhro for the upcoming breeding season.
Bred by Toorak Park Stud, Sultah was offered at the 2009 Easter Yearling Sale by leading South Australian farm Mill Park. Knocked down to Angus Gold on behalf of Sheikh Hamdan for $300,000, the filly is now likely to target the better three-year-old races during the spring, and like her half-brothers, as the distances increase it looks as if the filly will really come into her own.
As Exceed And Excel enters his seventh season at stud, the progeny of the multiple G1-winning son of Danehill have already achieved outstanding results and with the offspring of some 25 G1 winners and 98 Stakes winners yet to hit the track, the best is still to come.
Exceed And Excel will stand the upcoming breeding season at Kelvinside at a fee of $66,000.
