Xcellent Start is a bit of an oddball.

For one thing, he’s a horse whose name is the polar opposite of his running style. For another, Xcellent Start remains one of the rare horses that regularly competes over the Charles Town strip whose best running occurs in the later stages of his races.

Either way, current conditioner Wade Sanderson is optimistic about his abilities moving forward. Sanderson and Regulator Racing claimed Xcellent Start for $10,000 from trainer Mike Jones, Jr. and Top Notch Racing on February 28.

In his most recent outing in the featured, penultimate race on June 28, Xcellent Start overcame several lengthy delays, initially caused by Jungle Beast’s flipping in the starting gate, rallied from far off the early pace and widest of all in the lane for a 7-1 upset in a two-turn allowance for state-bred older runners. The five-year-old Upstart gelding that Sanderson trains for Regulator Racing notched his fourth win from nine seasonal tries and now owns a 10-8-1 slate and almost $225,000 banked from 33 career outings after getting the seven furlongs in 1:27.57.

“He really had a lot to overcome the other night,” said Sanderson. “They had a horse flip in the gate, then they had an issue with the starting gate. But give a hand to the starting gate crew because they got the issue solved and we were able to run the last two races. He stayed calm the whole time. But that’s the way he is. Every morning he just goes about his business and he’s pretty quiet in his stall.”

Xcellent Start’s first foray into allowance company for Sanderson came six weeks after the claim and went well as he rallied to finish fourth. but he failed to display that same finishing kick in a May 10 allowance event when he ventured home a nondescript seventh.

“Those first two starts were not what we were expecting, but he turned the corner for us right after that,” Sanderson said. “I think it was mainly the warmer weather. His form during the winter was not very good, but once it started to warm up, he got better.”

In fact, Xcellent Start has since rebounded from that genuinely subpar performance on May 10 to win three consecutive allowance events, all with his patented closing kick and twice while being overlooked by the betting public.

In a May 24 allowance/optional $20,000 claiming event for state-bred older runners, Xcellent Start rallied from last early to forge a 21-1 shocker with Fredy Peltroche aboard while stopping the timer in 1:26.14 for seven furlongs. It was his first win for his new barn and first triumph since Jan. 3.

In his next start on June 7, Xcellent Start proved his previous victory was no fluke when he captured a non-winners of three allowance for older horses as the 2-1 second choice. With Peltroche aboard he nailed Juba’s Hat Trick at the wire while stopping the timer in 1:25.04. With two straight wins to his credit, however, Xcellent Start was dismissed at 7-1 last out when he overcame delays and his rivals to win easily.

LISTEN TO THE LATEST OFF TO THE RACES RADIO!

Bred by Williams Racing Corp. and initally owned by trainer Jeff Runco and David Raim, Xcellent Start graduated in his career debut in a one-turn maiden special weight event for state-bred two-year-olds in August 2022. He then finished a solid second in the Henry Mercer Memorial Stakes when Paymengold forged a 23-1 upset for owner-trainer Dewayne Johnson.

That remains his best stakes outing.

As a sophomore, Xcellent Start struggled through most of the campaign but then captured a pair of allowance races in the fall. But he began his next season in claiming events and Jones nabbed him on behalf of Top Notch Racing for $15,000 on May 10 when he won by 2 1/2 lengths as the 5-2 second choice. Jones would have him for a total of 12 starts, recording three wins against allowance foes.

He also returned to stakes company for the first time since he was two, recording and a modest fifth-place finish in the 2024 Onion Juice Breeders Classic last fall and then a fourth in the Randy Funkhouser Memorial.

Sanderson said a return to stakes company could be in the offing.

“He’s doing really good right now so we’ll probably look for a state-bred stakes for him this summer,” Sanderson said. “I would expect he would have another allowance race this month to prep for the Frank Gall [on August 22] and then we’ll consider the Classic. I really think he wants to go long. He’s eligible to the big races, so we might as well take a chance in there if he’s doing good.”