Excellantes continued his love affair with the lucrative QTIS scheme with a commanding victory at Doomben on Saturday.

Excellantes (3g Falvelon – Cantantes by Just Awesome) made it four QTIS wins this season when he downed Startsmeup and The Ringmaster by over a length in the Jim Beam Handicap (1110m).

“I love QTIS racing,” trainer Rob Heathcote said.  “It’s fantastic and it’s why I got started in training all those years ago.

Excellantes has won $231,050 in prizemoney with QTIS bonuses figuring prominently in that amount.  “There’s a good race in him down south somewhere but time may have caught up with him this campaign,” Heathcote added.  “Next year might be his chance.”

Jockey Damian Browne backed up Heathcote’s opinion of Excellantes.  “He seems to be improving the more he gets into his preparation,” Browne said.  “He’s turned into a really nice horse and seems to have taken the next step.”

Excellantes was a good thing beaten on debut at Eagle Farm on Melbourne Cup day and followed up with a four length victory at Doomben.  He was purchased from the Lyndhurst Stud draft at the 2009 Magic Millions QTIS 600 yearling sale for $105,000 by leading New Zealand agent Paul Willetts.  

He is a half-brother to Funtantes (Easy Rocking) who won the G2 Doomben 2YO Classic for the same connections in May 2009.  The mare added more black-type to her record in the LR Juanmo Stakes at Eagle Farm in April.

Their dam Cantantes is owned by Heathcote and she has colts by Falvelon and Easy Rocking waiting in the wings.

The QTIS result completed a treble for Heathcote.  He had won with the NZ bred gallopers Simmering (Postponed) and Solzhenitsyn (St. Petersburg) earlier in the day at Doomben.