Blast From The Past: Hungerford Stakes

Excelebration was a cracking racehorse, a top-class performer, winning three Group 1s in total, but it would have been many more if it wasn’t for the phenomenon that was Frankel. Excelebration would no doubt have been the top miler of his generation if it wasn’t for Sir Henry Cecil’s exceptional colt, finishing behind Frankel on three occasions during his three-year-old season, namely in the Greenham, St James’s Palace and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, as Racehorses recounts:

‘The `you've been Tangoed' slogan, used in TV commercials for Tango soft drinks, entered Flat racing's vernacular in a corrupted form in the latest season. `You've been Frankelled' became a favourite, although, in truth, it was no humiliation to suffer defeat at the hands of the phenomenal Frankel, one of the very best racehorses in Timeform's long experience. Excelebration ran against Frankel three times and his good young trainer Marco Botti was right to point out that `it must never be regarded as a disgrace to be beaten by Frankel who is perhaps the best horse I will ever see.'

Following Excelebration’s run at Royal Ascot, where admittedly, he wasn’t at his best, Marco Botti gave him a two-month break to freshen him up, which paid dividends. It’s rare to see a Group 2 be won as easily as Excelebration did the Hungerford Stakes in 2011, testament of the strides he had made throughout the season, travelling through the race best, and only needing a couple of flicks with the whip to go readily clear of a couple of smart older horses. That performance caught the eye of a world-renowned breeding operation:

‘Excelebration was given a break after Royal Ascot and reappeared in the CGA Hungerford Stakes at Newbury in the middle of August, his striking performance in slamming the smart older horses Beacon Lodge and Musir, with Dubawi Gold fourth, attracting the attention of the Coolmore partners in particular. It is rare for a race like the Hungerford to be won so easily and, with the Prix du Moulin immediately signalled as the next target, Coolmore purchased an interest in Excelebration from his Italian owner Giuliano Manfredini, a Milan-based businessman (formerly a well-known amateur rider in his home country) who has around a dozen horses in training with Marco Botti at Newmarket.'

Excelebration was sold privately and continued to carry the colours of Mr Manfredini in his remaining races, but the new ownership arrangements did lead to the horse's regular jockey Adam Kirby being replaced by Jamie Spencer. The new combination went on to win the Group 1 Prix du Moulin at Longchamp a month after the Hungerford Stakes, before finishing runner-up to Frankel in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot.

Aidan O’Brien took over the training of Excelebration in 2012 and the colt went on to win three races for Ballydoyle, including the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, going one better than the previous in the absence of Frankel who had stepped up in trip for the Champion Stakes. Excelebration now stands at Coolmore Stud for a fee of €10,000 where he has sired winners of 84 races, his most notable to date being Barney Roy, who won the St James’s Palace at Royal Ascot this year, and is a leading fancy for the Juddmonte International at York on Wednesday.