September 27, 2008, marks the 30th Anniversary of ExcellerÍs win over Seattle Slew and Affirmed in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park . He is the only horse to ever beat two Triple Crown winners in one race and this accomplishment is unlikely to ever be duplicated.

In his honor, The Exceller Fund would like to celebrate this historic event by promoting A Toast to Exceller Day at racetracks across the country. Recognition of this historic event would be used to enhance awareness of The Exceller Fund and local organizations that promote Thoroughbred adoption and retirement.

The focus of this event will be the historic accomplishment of Exceller and not his demise. With the issue of equine welfare currently in the spotlight, this is a simple and fun way to show your racing fans that you are a participant in promoting Thoroughbred retirement and adoption.

Local racetracks will participate by promoting the sale of the signature cocktail The Exceller in their bar and restaurant venues and donating profits from the sale of the drink to The Exceller Fund. Tracks will have a tent card that has information promoting the drink and their support of adoption and retirement programs. If the track has an organization currently helping with adoption and retirement at your track, The Exceller Fund will share the donations from the sale of the cocktail with that group.

Tracks are also asked to put a page or two in their printed program to describe the historic event, promote the new signature cocktail, and recognize The Exceller Fund as well as their local organization. This cocktail could then become a regular item on the menu for continuing support of these programs.

The Exceller Fund has asked for a video of the historic race to be shown on the monitors in addition to merchandise commemorating the event, i.e., hats, visors, and awareness bracelets to be sold in gift shops. You can also purchase an Exceller Awareness bracelet from our Giftshop page

The Daily Racing Form will be supporting this project with advertising and will be including the participating tracks. On behalf of the horses that are truly the center of our industry, I look forward to a great response.

Sincerely,

Gary Contessa
President
The Exceller Fund
mail@excellerfund.org


The ingredients in The Exceller:

Apple juice - This represents the "Big Apple" - New York - where Exceller defeated the mighty Seattle Slew and Affirmed under a masterful ride by legendary jockey Bill Shoemaker after being carefully conditioned by the impeccable Charlie Whittingham. The precision teamwork of these three is something that seems to be disappearing from racing today.

Vodka - This represents the European campaign of Exceller under trainers Francois Mathet and later by Maurice Zilber. Exceller won the Prix du Lys, Prix Royal Oak, Grand Prix de Paris, Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and Coronation Cup.

Triple Sec - This represents the Triple Crown which is a rare achievement in racing. Only 11 horses have ever managed to win the three races, and it has been 30 years since the last crown was won. Never before in racing history had a horse defeated two Triple Crown winners in a single race, and it seems unlikely that accomplishment will ever be duplicated.

Lime Juice - This represents our sorrow that all three team members - Exceller, Bill Shoemaker, and Charlie Whittingham - are no longer with us.

Cranberry Juice - This represents the fighting spirit of all Thoroughbred champions. There are few sights more thrilling than the sight of a champion reaching beyond his potential to win the big race in the last final strides. There is a transcendent quality about a Thoroughbred that touches all of us and can take us on a journey that we will never forget.

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