Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
It’s hard to imagine the juvenile season could get any better for Godolphin, but at Hawkesbury on Tuesday, the operation unfurled yet another blue-lined youngster in the shape of Stanislaus, a 2-year-old son of Exceed And Excel.
The colt had previously been sixth in a Kirkham Plate debut last October, on that occasion defeated by his very smart stablemate Barber, also by Exceed And Excel, and Stanislaus did plenty wrong on Tuesday but still ran home a very good winner.
Ridden by Brenton Avdulla, he defeated Gold Lover (Sooboog) and Smashing Dancer (Brave Smash {Jpn}) by an official margin of 1.19l in 57.48s for the 1000 metres.
Stanislaus ran right down the middle of the track as he scrambled home, but Godolphin's raceday operations - Darren Beadman was forgiving of the style in which the colt won.
“It was green, but he didn’t have a rail to follow,” he told the post-race broadcast. “Horses, and especially 2-year-olds, can get a little lost out there in the middle on their own. It was nice to see him take a good forward position and give himself every chance early, and he finished off strongly.”
A Golden family
Stanislaus is from the Lonhro mare Calaverite, making him a half-brother to the reigning G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Golden Mile (Astern). It’s a topical pedigree, even by Godolphin’s standards.
Calaverite herself was a winner of the Listed Gimcrack S. and Listed St Albans S. at Moonee Valley, so there is plenty of sharpness on the first line of this pedigree.
Calaverite, dam if Stanislaus | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
However, the second dam is the G2 Karrakatta Plate winner Gold Rocks (Oratorio), and Gold Rocks is the dam of two other Group winners alongside Calaverite, namely the G2 Matamata Breeders’ S. winners and siblings, Gold Fever (NZ) (Savabeel) and Gold Rush (NZ) (So You Think {NZ}), and the stakes-placed Tommy Gold (NZ) (Sacred Falls {NZ}).
“It’s been a very good family,” said Jason Walsh, Godolphin’s racing and bloodstock manager. “Golden Mile is a Guineas winner and hoping to make his presence felt over the coming months again in his 3-year-old autumn. He’s obviously a stallion prospect now, and there’s also the quality of Calaverite there.
“Mix that with Exceed And Excel and you’ve got a colt that can win nicely at his second time out. We’re hoping Stanislaus can progress to be a horse of consequence as well.”
“Mix that (the presence of Golden Mile in the pedigree) with Exceed And Excel and you’ve got a colt that can win nicely at his second time out. We’re hoping Stanislaus can progress to be a horse of consequence as well.” - Jason Walsh
Calaverite produced six foals for Godolphin by such sires as Teofilo (Ire), Medaglia D’Oro (USA), Microphone and Street Boss (USA). Her notable winners have been Golden Mile, by Astern, and now Stanislaus.
As is usual for Godolphin for each year, the mare was among its 43-horse consignment to the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. She sold for $310,000 to a partnership of Merricks Station, Howson and Houldsworth Bloodstock and Group 1 Bloodstock (FBAA).
Since then, Calaverite has foaled her Street Boss filly and gone to Snitzel, the first non-Darley stallion she has visited.
Jason Walsh | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“We sold her on the Gold Coast last year to some good clients and friends of ours in Merricks Station,” Walsh said. “We are delighted they’ve managed to get that sort of result from her already.
“Golden Mile was only a maiden winner when they bought her and he’s jumped out of the page as a Group 1 winner now, which is good fortune for them. And it’s important from our perspective too.”
Season is heating up
Godolphin’s juvenile season has got better and better as the months have gone on.
As recently as last weekend at Sandown, the operation sent out the winners of both Blue Diamond Prelude races, Barber and Exploring (Brazen Beau) respectively, and it will have no less than four horses in the G1 Blue Diamond field in a fortnight’s time.
It would be arguable that it’s a halcyon season for Godolphin in Australia, given it’s not unusual for the team to dominate, but it’s still been a good run, even by Walsh’s standards.
Gallery: Godolphin's Blue Diamond Prelude winners, images courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“It’s certainly the level of performance we aspire to,” he said. “We’ve had a good number of 2-year-old winners, especially on the back of being able to win both key Blue Diamond lead-ups at Sandown.
“That’s very pleasing from our perspective, but we’re also very aware that the level of competition elevates again in the next six weeks, so our horses will have to continue to improve to make their presence felt in the short term.”
Nevertheless, Walsh said he’s very confident in the arsenal he has ahead of the autumn.
“I think we’ve got reason to be confident that they’ll perform very well in the Blue Diamond, purely on the basis of what we saw last weekend,” he said. “And then our attention will turn primarily to Sydney. The ranks look solid, but we’re always aware that, year on year, you have to continue to progress from this stage in late January, early February to being a force in late March.”
“The ranks look solid, but we’re always aware that, year on year, you have to continue to progress from this stage in late January, early February to being a force in late March.” - Jason Walsh
Two-year-old Stanislaus holds key nominations to the Golden Slipper on March 18 and the G1 Inglis Sires’ Produce S. on April 1. Whether he makes those fields is up to subsequent performances, but there is no doubt from Walsh that he has the pedigree and potential.
“Stanislaus was a horse that showed a good deal of promise at the back end of last year at home,” he said. “We feel he’s still a work in progress, which is pretty evident, and that means we hope there’s still plenty of improvement possible.
“I think we will give consideration to stepping up into stakes grade next time out. Prior to Christmas he ran a good race without doing everything right behind Barber, so that illustrates that James and the team think he’s a very capable animal.
“After that, we’ll give him a chance to tell us if he’s ready to go to the next level now, or even perhaps into his 3-year-old season. Today (Tuesday) was a very encouraging win and we certainly hope he’s capable of stakes level.”
“Stanislaus was a horse that showed a good deal of promise at the back end of last year at home. We feel he’s still a work in progress, which is pretty evident, and that means we hope there’s still plenty of improvement possible.” - Jason Walsh
At Hawkesbury, Darren Beadman was well-aware of the calibre of 2-year-old he had.
“He’s a half-brother to Golden Mile so he’s very well-bred,” the Beadman said. “The mum is doing well and it’s Exceed And Excel to the fore again.”
For 22-year-old Exceed And Excel, Stanislaus was seasonal winner number 63 and win number 92. It, also, has been a halcyon season for the perennial sire, who has also factored heavily as a broodmare sire all year.
Exceed And Excel | Standing at Darley
Among Exceed And Excel’s notable season winners have been the G2 Rose of Kingston S. winner Excelida, the Godolphin colt Zulfiqar, who will line up in the Blue Diamond, and Pounding, Barber, Zethus and Sky On Fire.
