Elate's Son Excite Graduates in Style at Churchill

This column highlights the performances of 2- and 3-year-old maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Churchill Downs

It was better late than never for Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's homebred Excite, who became the first winner for superstar race mare Elate with his maiden victory May 31 at Churchill Downs. 

The regally-bred Excite took a long and winding path to the winner's circle. Brought along under Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the colt began his career on the turf, just as his dam Elate did before him. Rallying from the back of the pack in his sole start as a 2-year-old, he finished a respectable fourth in his Dec. 21 unveiling in a 1 1/16-mile turf maiden special weight at Gulfstream Park. Brought back in February, Excite closed gamely for a third-place effort, beaten a nose and a half-length—close, but no cigar. 

After a frustrating off-the-board finish on the grass at Keeneland, Mott moved the son of Speightstown to the dirt, where he would run in the final race on the card on Derby Day. Mott, just moments after wrapping up his post-Kentucky Derby (G1) winning interview, would watch Excite flounder home in fourth over the slop, from the media room telecast.  

Last Saturday, however, everything clicked for the big bay. Excite no doubt inherited his massive stature from his dam, a goliath-sized mare that often towered over her foes on the track. Like Elate, Excite's giant strides devoured the two turns of the main track, and he reached and stretched eagerly for the wire in the nine-furlong maiden special weight, trouncing his rivals by 5 1/4 lengths when it was all said and done. 

Excite stopped the clock in 1:50.18 under Irad Ortiz Jr.

Nine furlongs, or even ten, was the best distance for Elate. Campaigned under Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider's silks, the Medaglia d'Oro  mare thrived over the classic distances, capturing the Alabama Stakes (G1) and Beldame Stakes (G1) as a 3-year-old in addition to two renditions of the 1 1/4-mile Delaware Handicap (G2) as a 4- and 5-year-old. A grizzly competitor, Elate even finished fourth against the males in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).