They said he made up 22 lengths, but I swear it looked more like 40," "He came from way, way back and had a tremendous stretch drive, but Seattle Slew stayed in there and battled' --NB Hunt

Best remembered as the only horse to beat two Triple Crown winners, he proved his quality on a global scale by winning graded or Group 1 stakes on both sides of the Atlantic.

Upon his retirement in 1979, he was sent to stud at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Ky., where he sired several[intlink id="omega-code-tin-oaks" type="post"]stakes winners,[/intlink] but nothing spectacular, Exceller was sold and sent to Sweden in 1991, where he was all but forgotten until the Daily Racing Form began research for an article to accompany the news that he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

The news of his death in a slaughterhouse shocked racing fans all over the world. In his memory,  several racing/horse fans put their grief and anger into action to help other "forgotten" horses  and spread the word that more must be done to ensure a cruelty-free life for horses when their racing days are over.

The Exceller Fund (www.excellerfund.org) was first formed in September 1997, three months after the world was [intlink id="excellers-fate" type="page"]told of his fate[/intlink].

Read about the horses in Exceller's family and follow some of his descendants in the Exceller Stable in the [intlink id="12" type="category"]Horses and Racing[/intlink] topic

The following excerpts have been gleaned from interviews and articles with Exceller's owner, Nelson Bunker Hunt:

Exceller had been purchased on the spur of the moment. . . One of the Hunt's advisers (Curtin) spotted the colt earlier and, although they were at the sale looking for fillies, suggested that Hunt jump in when the horse was languishing in the ring.

Hunt, majority owner of Vaguely Noble and breeder of twenty-one stakes horses by him picked up another Vaguely Noble colt for $25,000.

After winning the Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Royal-Oak at three (in the shadow of stablemates Empery and Youth), Exceller was a major campaigner for several more years.  At four years of age, he won The Coronation Cup, Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and the Canadian International.

At five and six Exceller campaigned in the U.S. under Charlie Whittingham. He won major stakes on both surfaces in California and then scored one of the most memorable (and still unmatched) of victories when he rallied from twenty-two lengths back to edge Seattle Slew and defeat Affirmed in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. See the race video

From an interview with NB Hunt in Thoroughbred Times, 2004

"Exceller was sort of my favorite," said the Dallas resident.. "He always put in a great effort and he was a hard-trying horse. Charlie Whittingham [who trained Exceller in North America] was asked if he ever had a horse that could maintain a drive as long as Exceller. He said, 'No, and I've never seen a horse that could maintain a drive as long as Exceller.'"

"They said he made up 22 lengths, but I swear it looked more like 40," Hunt said. "He came from way, way back and had a tremendous stretch drive, but Seattle Slew stayed in there and battled. I told my son, 'You've seen something you will probably never see again.'

Exceller's Graded/Group Stakes wins

As a five-year-old in 1978, Exceller had his best season on the racecourse, winning 7 of 10 starts, all in top company, on both dirt and turf racetracks. After claiming the Hollywood Gold Cup, Hollywood Invitational Turf Handicap, San Juan Capistrano Handicap, Sunset Handicap, Oak Tree Invitational Stakes, Exceller had his crowning moment. With Willie Shoemaker in the saddle, Exceller came from 22 lengths back to beat Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew and Affirmed in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. To be fair, Affirmed's saddle had slipped, effectively taking him out of the race, and Seattle Slew had been hanging up almost suicidal fractions on the lead, but Exceller still powered through the Belmont Park mud to win by a nose.