Pierro pips All Too Hard in fee stakes Two-year-old triple crown winner Pierro's service fee has been set at $77,000 for his debut season at Coolmore Stud following the announcement of his sale last Friday. The fee will meet with some controversy as Coolmore is rating Pierro a $10,000 better stallion than racetrack rival All Too Hard, which begins his career at Vinery Stud on $66,000 after trekking to Royal Ascot to contest the Queen Anne Stakes next month. The early bookings for All Too Hard have exceeded expectations, says Vinery manager Peter Orton, and his stocks would have been boosted greatly with his stunning All Aged Stakes win at Randwick last Saturday. He has also been syndicated to several high-profile breeders, which means he'll be a sell-out. Michael Kirwan, Coolmore's general manager, said the $77,000, which includes GST, was a fair price following the colt's sensational racing deeds. However, it does put Pierro superior to another of Coolmore's sires, So You Think, which began his stud career last year at $66,000. Sepoy, another Golden Slipper winner, also kick-started his career at Darley last year at the same price. "The response we have had to Pierro since last weekend has been quite extraordinary," Kirwan said, "and it appears as if breeders are prepared to pay the $77,000 we decided upon." All Too Hard was able to beat Pierro home twice in Melbourne, firstly with his win in the Caulfield Guineas, a stallion-making race, and he was runner-up in the Cox Plate to Ocean Park with Pierro third. Pierro had the wood on All Too Hard as a two-year-old, beating him conclusively in the Sires' Produce - the middle leg of the triple crown. Only time will prove which is the better of the pair when their progeny hit the racetracks. However, it is marvellous for racing that Australian-bred thoroughbreds have produced two mighty racetrack stars. Excessive excellence Darley's Exceed And Excel has had an amazing turnaround in the Australian stallions' premiership by almost doubling his 2011-12 earnings this season and holding what seems to be an unassailable lead over Fastnet Rock. Exceed And Excel has always been regarded as a great source of winners in both hemispheres, but has had an incredible juveniles' season in Sydney during the autumn that has skyrocketed his earnings to just on $10 million. That is certain to increase considerably as there are still three months of the 2012-13 season to go. Last season Exceed And Excel finished sixth in the premiership with progeny earnings of $6,161,459 and the year earlier he was 15th with $4,980,894. Exceed And Excel's results this season can be attributed to the triple crown leg wins by Overreach in the Golden Slipper and Guelph in the Sires' Produce and Champagne Stakes. Overall, Exceed And Excel's two-year-olds' earnings to date this season are $5,146,100 and the two fillies have won $3,262,300 between them. It's highly unlikely Exceed And Excel will better the phenomenal performance last year that gave Coolmore's Fastnet Rock his first premiership with earnings of $12,683,689. As a result of Exceed And Excel's deeds, he is the hottest stallion on Darley's roster of 23 sires, despite rising from $66,000 to $88,000. He is serving at Britain's Dalham Hall Stud at Newmarket for £35,000 ($53,000) and has a most enviable book of broodmares. The local support, which has him almost fully booked, is proving valuable for Darley regarding Helmet, a son of Exceed And Excel, which will serve his second season at Darley's Melbourne base at $33,000. However, it is rival Coolmore that looks set to profit handsomely with another exciting son of Exceed And Excel - Excelebration - which has been swamped with bookings at his introductory season fee here of $27,500. HOOFNOTE: Darley has three of the top four leading sires this season with Commands and Lonhro battling for third.