Winning Horse: Excelida (Aus)

5yoM Exceed And Excel (Aus) - Lady Sayyida (NZ)(Iffraaj (GB))

27 starts - 5 wins 5 seconds 4 thirds 2 fourths $329000

Black Type Placings

2nd G3 Flemington The Hong Kong Jockey Club Stks 1400m (2021)

3rd LR Sandown-Hillside Mrc 6 Mth M'ship Twilight Glow 1400m (2019)

Other Wins

1st Flemington Mitty's Trophy (Bm70) 1420m (2021)

1st Sandown-Lakeside Ladbrokes Same Race Multi-Bm70 1300m (2020)

1st Pakenham Synthetic Going Gone Hayley Conn (Bm58) 1400m (2019)

1st Pakenham Synthetic Nine Mile Fresh Mdn Plate 1200m (2019)

Race Result:

1st: Excelida (Jake Noonan/Ben & JD Hayes) - $8

2nd: Paperboy (Jye McNeil/John Price) - $8
3rd: Sig Positano (John Allen/Patrick Payne) - $7.50

Winning Time: 1:23.57 Last 600m: NA

Margins: ¾-L x half-neck

Winning Trainer: Ben & JD Hayes (Ben speaking)

On training since spring carnival: “We’ve just kept her fresh and happy at home, she had a couple of weeks in the paddock, ticking over, keeping her happy and I was very impressed with that win today

On the race: “We weren’t expecting to be that far back but when she missed the start, credit to Jake he went to plan B - I don’t think many horses have made ground from the back of the field today so it adds merit to the win.

Possible stakes races in New Zealand: “It’s definitely an option, we’ll have to talk to Henry (Plumptre) and Brendan (Lindsay) and everyone involved but it is something we have been talking about doing and today gives us a bit more confidence. It was only a benchmark 78 but she won it quite impressively and all you can do is win like that. She’s been in great form this preparation.

Winning Jockey: Jake Noonan

On picking up the spare ride from Michael Dee: “Mick Dee’s misfortune is my good fortune - I’ve been on the other end of it before so it’s good to have things go my way.

On Excelida: “This horse’s form has been really good and Ben (Hayes) gave her a great push, he was very confident and he just said if she gets a clear run it will just win. I didn’t step that clean and just had to ride my race from there and be patient. I knew I was on the best horse and I knew I’d get there in time - her class prevailed.

On Lindsay Park: “It’s been fantastic for me, I really enjoy working with the Hayes boys, I had a little bit of an association with David when he was here, the fact that I’ve been able to gain an opportunity with them, my Dad’s training is similar to theirs, I read their feedback and their long term plans with horses and it’s good to be on the same page.