New Group One sponsors mark Xcellent anniversary
Richard Edmunds - Raceform • September 5th, 2025 9:00 AM • 3 min read
Rich Hill Stud is celebrating the 20th anniversary of one of their most memorable triumphs by taking over the sponsorship of the first Group One race of the New Zealand season, now known as the Proisir Plate.
Two decades ago, on August 27, 2005, the 1400m weight-for-age race was run at Hastings as the Mudgway Stakes. The field featured eight past or future Group One winners – in alphabetical order, Balmuse, Clean Sweep, Maroofity, Miss Potential, Shinzig, The Jewel, Xcellent and Zvezda.
Xcellent had by that time already established himself as one of the most talented progeny of Rich Hill Stud’s foundation stallion Pentire. He had won four of his five races as a three-year-old the previous season, including a sparkling come-from-behind performance in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Derby in only the third start of his career, followed by a defeat of older horses in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Stakes.
But what Xcellent did at Hastings had to be seen to be believed. In his first race for five months and his first start over a distance shorter than 1600m, he launched an incredible finish from last. Within the last 200m he flew past a dozen of his rivals like they were standing still. He went on to beat the high-class Miss Potential by three-quarters of a length.
“It’s very fitting for us to be taking over the naming rights on the 20th anniversary of that win by Xcellent,” Rich Hill Stud’s managing director John Thompson told RaceForm.
“I still remember that win very clearly. I was on a stud tour in Australia and we stopped on the side of the road to listen to the race and that memorable call by Tony Lee. It was an unbelievable performance.
“It was the start of quite a special significance that this race has held for us at Rich Hill.”
Mufhasa, bred by Thompson in partnership with his father Colin, recorded one of his 10 Group One victories in the 2011 edition of the race. He was also runner-up in 2009.
The 2022 winner Dark Destroyer is a son of the stud’s headline stallion Proisir, for whom the race is now named, with the subsequent multiple Group One winner La Crique (by Vadamos) finishing third.
That Rich Hill influence could continue in the 2025 edition of the $400,000 Proisir Plate at Ellerslie this Saturday, where Proisir’s multiple Group One-winning daughter Legarto holds equal favouritism at $4 while Railway winner Waitak is rated a $16 chance.
Other Rich Hill stallions are also represented in the Proisir Plate field, with La Crique (Vadamos) an $8 third favourite, El Vencedor (Shocking) at $14 and last year’s third placegetter Sacred Satono (Satono Aladdin) at $21.
“It’s exciting to have a couple of Proisir’s progeny lining up in the race, while Shocking, Satono Aladdin and Vadamos are all represented as well,” Thompson said.
“It’s really shaping up to be a great day. Everyone’s looking forward to the return of Group One racing. This race has attracted an excellent field, as it always does.
“The new name seems to have been accepted pretty readily. I think it has a good ring to it. I can’t wait for Saturday.”
