We have our drink! The Exceller!

[Exceller Fund]

We have our Signature Cocktail for our Toast to Exceller Day!!
(Please keep this recipe a secret from the NYRA folks until after the Travers! Let them find their own recipe!)

The recipe is from Leslie Hubbell who enjoyed putting together various concoctions until we hit on this:

4 parts apple juice
2 parts vodka
1 part Triple Sec
1/2 part lime juice
Serve over ice.
Pour ½ part cranberry juice (or cranberry mix) over the drink

We decided to call the drink THE EXCELLER - it's simple and poignant and no guessing who it honors!

For those that would like non-alcohol version, try this:
Substitute 2 part Orange Juice instead of the Triple Sec and vodka.

We are contacting Bacardi who owns the Grey Goose brand of vodka since they have done advertising for horse racing venues to see if they will support marketing this idea to the racetracks.

IF ANYONE HAS ANY CONTACTS AT BACARDI, OR AT ANY LOCAL RACETRACK - PLEASE send an e-mail to [e-mail] as we could really use your help!

So - even if you cannot make it to the races on September 27th, you can mix yourself an EXCELLER and toast a unique achievement in racing that will never be duplicated!

[Exceller Fund]

Please post your rating of the drink in this thread:

1. How easy is it to make?

2. How did it taste?

3. How many could you drink before the room started spinning?


Please drink responsibly and have a designated driver if you are going out.

[Exceller Fund]

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.