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Hall of Fame - Excellent Meeting
Original article written by Anna Leroux posted 13 years 2 weeks agoWhen the SIM’s first day of racing began who would have thought that a fifteen and a half hand filly would beat colts in the SIM’s first race in history? Of course at that point there were so few horses in the game, and many of them were destined to be at least decent enough to become broodmares and stallion prospects. Excellent Meeting, however, would be one of the standouts in this first group of race horses.
Excellent Meeting’s sire General Meeting was a real life stallion, picked because of his excellent pedigree with Seattle Slew as his sire and a daughter of Alydar as his dam. See in these days horses were not good at just turf sprints or dirt miles, so breeding at this point had not become as specialized as it has now. Therefore many horses have crosses that today we may look at and go “how on earth did that horse ever win a race?” And on that note lets take a little more of a detailed look at General Meeting. General Meeting also sired a mare called Western Hemisphere who’s son New Yorker is a horse in his second year of standing at stud. This sire also produced the popular line of Derby Report. Excellent Meeting’s sire line is nothing but spectacular. This thought can also be said for her dam side.
Excellent Meeting’s dam Fitted Crown was a real life mare by Chief’s Crown, out of a Dunce daughter. Fitted Crown produced two General Meeting daughters, the second of which never produced anything of importance, another note in the thought that most mares never produce an exact copy of a talented full brother or sister. Excellent Meeting however would definitely draw the long straw in ability as both racehorse and broodmare. In fact Excellent Meeting would prove to be the only success in Fitted Crown’s short broodmare history.
This mare stepped onto the track for the first time in the game, after transplanting from real life, Year One Week One. This six furlong dirt race would be run with another super horse in Battle Cry, a future Louisville Derby winner and fellow Hall of Famer. Excellent Meeting won this race and stepped up for a nice career as a racehorse. In her next race just two short weeks following her win she entered the Spinning Around Stakes, a seven furlong grade one event over dirt which drew three other entries. Here she met with Silverbulletday who went on to produce the Priceless Forever stallion Elusive Pegasus, Super Sonic, Wish and many other names that are popular in today’s pedigrees. Excellent Meeting once again proved her talent and won.
Excellent Meeting once again stepped onto the track, this time Week 1 of Year 2, now remember at this time seasons were six weeks, not our now sixteen weeks of racing. Excellent Meeting was entered into the one and one sixteenth Fantasy Stakes. Unfortunately she did not win this race however, she lost to Rain Dancer the first every Steward bred which is certainly nothing to complain about. And if you ask Ara Davies she will probably tell you how great Rain Dancer’s win was!
Excellent Meeting went on to win four more races and earn over one million dollars. She captured both the Louisville Oaks and the Baltimore Crown as well as the Santa Maria Handicap and the Stewards Cup Distaff. Excellent Meeting entered the breeding shed at five and produced the Real Quiet mare Really Excellent. In the breeding shed this is where Excellent Meeting would leave her mark on the world of horse racing.
Really Excellent followed in her dam’s footsteps and won over a million dollars. Really Excellent, is a very important mare in that she produced millionaires Stealth, Viper, Vampire, Lighting a Candle, Loki Angel dam of Goliath, and several other names now known.
Excellent Meeting produced thirteen more foals. Two of them also became millionaires; Quiet Excellence, and A Long Goodbye. Quiet Excellence was bred to Loki Dynasty in her first of standing and foaled out a black colt, Baby Blue who did win many races and is now passing on his genes to his offspring. Quiet Excellence’s mark is left in the game for all time. A Long Goodbye, the last of Excellent Meeting’s millionaires, has unfortunately not passed her genes on to her offspring and has only produced one stakes winner.
Excellent Meeting also produced eight horses to make it over the one hundred thousand dollar mark, but under the million dollar mark. Forever Excellent, one of those in this group, produced Heartthrob, who although not a stakes winner herself did produce Loki Heartthrob who is the dam of several stakes winners. Excellent another of her stakes winners did produce Total Knock Out. Total Knock Out was good on the track and also went on to produce Trenton My Boy a millionaire.
Excellent Meeting’s mark was left in racing and in the breeding shed. She is the type of horse so many players dream of getting their hands on, and this is just another part of what makes her so special.
Excellent Meeting is perhaps one of the most deserving of the Hall of Famers in that she did something no other horse in SIMhistory can claim; won the first SIM race. This in and of itself is one special feet and perhaps the thing she will forever be remembered for.