After a Group III win by Bivouac earlier in the day, Exceed And Excel threw his hat in the ring for Champion 2YO Sire honours, a tile that is currently led by his son Sidestep, when Microphone capped a stellar season with a well-deserved win in Saturday's $1 million Group 1 Inglis Sires' Produce Stakes (1400m) at Randwick.
Runner-up in the Golden Slipper Stakes a fortnight back, Microphone rode close to the speed set by his Golden Slipper-winning stablemate Kiamichi, then answered every call from Hugh Bowman to defeat the I Am Invincible filly Loving Gaby by three-quarters of a length with a half-head back to the dead-heaters Kiamichi and the Dundeel colt Castelvecchio. (images Steve Hart).
Never further back than second in his six starts, Microphone advanced his record to four wins and two seconds with earnings of $1,588,600.
We mentioned on the feature on Loving Gaby in last weeks 'Best On Breeding', that both Microphone and Loving Gaby descend from the same family that was introduced to Australia back in the 1820's. (read that story here).
So, in this global age, it was a remarkable quinella.
Godolphin is three fifths of the way to sweeping the five Group 1 juvenile races (Blue Diamond with Lyre and Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi) that was last achieved by Darley with Sepoy in the Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond, with Exceed And Excel's son Helmet in both the Champagne Stakes and ATC Sires' Produce Stakes and Benfica in the JJ Atkins Stakes.
"He's a star colt," winning trainer James Cummings said.
"I think back to the Tuesday before the Slipper and he absolutely exploded for us in a gallop.
'We barely had to breathe on him for this race today, just be confident in the horse, didn't do too much with him, and his class shone through.
"He was able to build underneath Kiamichi. She has run a bold race, she just wasn't quite as settled as she was a fortnight ago. He has gone to the line like a top-class colt.
"He's a star horse and I can't tell you how proud I am of him. He stormed to the line once again in another top class two-year-old race. I think the longevity of his campaign, his strength, his class, all those things point to him being the best two-year-old in the country this season and think that's deserving for the horse."
Cummings would not be drawn on Microphone starting in the Champagne Stakes.
"We don't make decisions on race day," he said.
"We will let the dust settle and talk to the boys about it. We're pretty excited about his strong effort there at seven furlongs."
Bowman left on one in doubt where he rates the son of Exceed and Excel.
"I will be surprised if he isn't the best horse out of the Golden Slipper," Bowman said.
"I think he will improve on what we saw today. The track is racing beautifully but my opinion it is heavy and despite that, I think we will see him better on top of the ground. The best will be seen when he gets to 1600m.
"I didn't want to go around the field. He was travelling in such a smooth rhythm and when Loving Gaby made the move, my opinion was she was the one to beat, and I wanted to follow her through. I had my eyes on Kiamichi who I couldn't run down two weeks ago. The extra distance played into our hands."
A half-brother to two winners, Microphone is the fifth foal of the Listed Scone Dark Jewel Classic winner Sung (Anabaa) who Godolphin parted with last year. She was purchased by Boomer Bloodstock for $70,000 at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Sung is a sister to the triple Group 1 winning sprinter Yell and a half-sister to Shouts (Strategic) the dam of Group 1 ATC Canterbury Stakes winner Holler (Commands).
The daughter of Anabaa is out of the stakes-winning Bluebird (USA) mare Vocalist who is a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Anthems (Palace Music) and to the dam of the Group II ATC Hill Stakes winner Lamasery (Commands).
Granddam Loyal Lyric (Sovereign Red) is a half-sister to the dam of the super popular stallion Written Tycoon.
Sung has a yearling colt by Teofilo (IRE). After slipping her Animal Kingdom foal in 2017, she was covered by Spirit Of Boom last spring.
Microphone becomes the 12th Group 1 winner for Darley Stud's world-traveller Exceed And Excel.
.@godolphin have done it again and Microphone for @JamesCummings88 takes out the G1 @inglis_sales Sires @ The Championshipsrr @royalrandwick@atc_races. pic.twitter.com/SYIpm2Nf7Q
— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 6, 2019
