Exceedance’s Group 2-winning brother joins Blue Gum roster
Group 2-winning sprinter Oxley Road (Exceed And Excel), a brother to Vinery Stud’s emerging Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m)–winning stallion Exceedance, will stand at Blue Gum Farm in Victoria.
The well-bred former Peter Moody-trained Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m)–placed sprinter is also a half-brother to the stakes-winning filly Mac ‘N’ Cheese (Sebring) and one of four winning foals out of the late Listed-winning mare Bonnie Mac (Thorn Park).
Blue Gum Farm owners Jason and Mel Stenning and Sean and Cathy Dingwall have secured the high-class sprinter to join the Victorian stud’s roster alongside Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) and exceptional two-year-old Sejardan (Sebring) who enters his second season at stud in 2024.
Oxley Road will stand for an introductory fee of $8,800 (all fees inc GST) while Flying Artie and Sejardan will remain at unchanged fees of $16,500 and $13,750 respectively.
Oxley Road demonstrated his immense talent at his first start, blitzing his rivals over 1000 metres down the Flemington straight before immediately progressing to stakes level to land the Zeditave Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at his second start.
As a four-year-old, the entire won a Caulfield Sprint (Gr 2, 1100m), defeating high-class speed horse Malkovich (Choisir) in the process, while he was also placed in a Rubiton Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) and the Oakleigh Plate, which was won by Marabi (I Am Invincible) with $4 million mare Away Game (Snitzel) finishing second.
It was Moody’s effusive opinion of Oxley Road, who was raced by a syndicate including Singapore trainer Stephen Gray, that led to Blue Gum’s initial interest in the stallion when expressions of interest were called for almost 14 months ago.
“We probably held off a bit last year just, like a lot of the farms, had concerns whether Exceedance would make the grade, but this year we felt that he’s done enough to not disadvantage Oxley Road, so therefore we were prepared to take the punt by taking him on,” Sean Dingwall told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“One of the things that sold the horse to me is the fact that Peter Moody has such a high opinion of him. Peter is very clear that he’s one of the fastest horses that he’s ever had and, for us, we’re trying to establish a farm based on colonial speed and he fits the bill.”
Dingwall’s affirmation of Exceedance comes as the Vinery sire’s first crop two-year-olds make an impression through the deeds of Dublin Down winning the Pago Pago Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) in Sydney and the Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) in Melbourne, while he is also the sire of city winner Flyer and two other juveniles scoring from his 11 runners.
Oxley Road’s physique also won over the studmaster and his partners’ decision to take on the stallion.
“I just love the type of horse he is because he’s a big, athletic horse. He’s got great bone and plenty of scope. The one thing that stands out to me is he’s got a great head and a magnificent jowl, he’s got a proper stallion’s head,” Dingwall said.
“So, from that perspective, I don’t mind walking out the door every morning and looking at him and we definitely think he’s got a part to play on the back of the success of Exceedance.”
Blue Gum Farm will offer attractive lifetime breeding right deals in Oxley Road to boost his early books of mares, an approach that was also taken with Newgate Farm’s current leading first season sire Tassort (Brazen Beau).
Meanwhile, Dingwall is eagerly awaiting the first foals of ATC Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m), Golden Gift (1100m) and Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) winner Sejardan, who covered 103 mares in his first season at stud last year.
“We have tried to position him where we felt we were giving breeders a fair go, being breeders ourselves, and that’s why we haven’t changed his fee,” Dingwall said of the former Gary Portelli trainee.
“From Sejardan’s perspective we think he’s priced right and we’ve priced Oxley Road to be very competitive and to entice people to take the journey with us.”
Sejardan also won the Red Anchor Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) at Moonee Valley as a spring three-year-old before retiring to stud.
The most exposed stallion on the Blue Gum roster Flying Artie, who relocated to Victoria last year after six seasons in the Hunter Valley at Newgate, has had seven stakes horses and three stakes winners in Australia so far this season, headed by Group 2 winners Asfoora and Democracy Manifest.
Former Singapore sprinter Coin Toss, who joined the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable in Sydney last year, also won the National Sprint (Listed, 1400m) at Canberra in March.
“With a decent run in two Group 1s [the Epsom Handicap and Doncaster Mile], Democracy Manifest could be a Group 1 winner and Asfoora’s gone to England now,” Dingwall said.
“[Flying Artie’s co-owner] Wilf Mula rang me the other day and said, ‘do you know Flying Artie is the only stallion to have two horses go from Australia to the UK?’.
“Between Artorius and Asfoora, he will have had two horses represent the country at Royal Ascot in recent times. At the end of the day, we love the Flying Arties because they just get better with age and they’re proper racehorses.”
The confirmation of Blue Gum’s service fees comes after rival Victorian farms Yulong, Woodside Park and Darley Victoria announced their respective line-ups in the past fortnight.