Elite Power showed the versatility of his pedigree when this powerful colt delivered back-to-back winning performances in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, demonstrating that fast horses come in different packages.
Grown in purple
Elite Power comes by his abilities honestly: in addition to being a double Horse of the Year sire, his dam Broadway’s Alibi was also a stakes winner, winning the seven-furlong Forward Gal Stakes and the one-mile Comely Stakes before finishing second to Believe You Can by three-quarters of a length in the 2012 Kentucky Oaks. Broadway’s Alibi raced for breeder E. Paul Robsham and went through the sales ring when Robsham’s widow Joyce in 2015 distributed and sold their bloodstock to Jon Clay’s Alpha Delta Stables for $2.15 million. In 2017, Clay sent this daughter of Vindication to the Curlin court and in 2018 the dark brown mare produced a beautiful chestnut colt with a wide white blaze and three white socks.
That colt passed through the auction ring at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and brought $900,000 to Prince Khalid bin Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms. The Juddmonte team named him Elite Power and sent him to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Because the colt had a pedigree of two winners at a mile or more, the stable expected they would get a horse that would compete at classic distances. Instead, they discovered that this runner’s specialty was shorter — that is, if they could get him to the races. Shin problems kept Elite Power off the track until his three-year-old season, when he debuted in a first six-furlong special weight test at Churchill Downs in late September 2021, seven months after Prince Khalid died at the age of 85. He finished sixth that day, and Elite Power would need four starts to record his first win, two of them in his three-year-old season and two more starting the following year at age four.
Elite Power’s breakthrough came in a seven-furlong race at Churchill in late June, where he rolled by nine lengths; he followed that up with wins at a mile and then six furlongs before Mott tried the colt in his first stakes, the Grade 2 Vosburgh at the 2022 Belmont fall at the Big A (Aqueduct) meet. Facing a short field of four others, Elite Power stayed off the pace for the first half mile and then moved to the front after a slow time of :47.68, leading to a 5 ¾ length victory. The Vosburgh was also a Win & You’re In qualifying race for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. After four straight wins, Elite Power headed to Keeneland Race Course for the six-furlong championship test, where he faced much tougher company than before.
It was time to see what Elite Power was made of.
Two times gold
The waters were much deeper for the chestnut colt at Keeneland. The 2022 Sprint included Aloha West, the 2021 sprint winner; winner of multiple Grade 1 stakes Jackie’s Warrior; and the filly Kimari, also a multiple stakes winner. Elite Power and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. came from the center of the field, post 6 of 11, and were seventh after the first quarter-mile, sixth after the first half-mile, and then went five wide into the far turn to ride down the track and pass CZ Rocket in the final furlong to win by 1 ¼ lengths in a final time of 1:09.11.
After going from first to Breeders’ Cup winner in five starts, Elite Power took home the Eclipse Award for Champion Male Sprinter. “When we bought the colt we dreamed of a mile and the Kentucky Derby, but he sprints so brilliantly,” said Juddmonte’s general manager Garrett O’Rourke. Blood horse. “Anytime you buy a horse at such a cost, there’s a lot at stake, so it’s great to be rewarded for that.”
In 2023, Elite Power was set to make a second attempt at the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at the age of 5. Bill Mott first sent him to Saudi Arabia to attempt the Riyadh Dirt Sprint presented by Sports Boulevard, and there Elite Power overwhelmed a field that included Grade 1 winner Gunite to show he was the best dirt sprinter in the world. Returning to the US, he won first the Grade 2 True North Stakes and then the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes over Gunite, passing that foe late to triumph by a head. After three wins to start 2023, Elite Power faced Gunite again in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in late August. In that seven-furlong race, Gunite took the lead from the break, while Elite Power sat just off the pace waiting for the stretch to make its bid. This time, however, the son of Curlin did not have enough to catch his younger rival, losing his final pre-Breeders’ Cup start by 1 ¾ lengths.
Elite Power headed to California for its final start and a repeat bid in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, arriving at Santa Anita Park as the morning favorite over Gunite and Golden State stalwarts Speed Boat Beach, The Chosen Vron and Dr. Schivel. Speed Boat Beach took the lead early in the sprint, leading the field through splits of :21.99 over a quarter mile and :44.35 over a half mile. Lying in third under Irad Ortiz, Elite Power went four wide into the far turn and then powered down the stretch to win by a length and a half at odds of 1.70-1, shooting six furlongs in 1:08.34. After winning a second Eclipse for Champion Sprinter, Elite Power took out a two-time Breeders’ Cup champion and joined Juddmonte’s American stallion band in Kentucky.
With his victories in the 2022 and 2023 Sprints, Elite Power joined Tiznow, Bayakoa, Miesque, Cody’s Wish and other elite horses as repeat winners at the World Breeders’ Cup Championship. To honor his achievements, this year NYRA renamed the six-furlong Runhappy Stakes to Elite Power and moved it to Aqueduct’s fall and fall calendar, where the Grade 3 race will be held on December 6.
As one of the top 21 male dirt sprintersst With nine wins in his last ten starts, Elite Power showed the versatility of his sire’s genetics, a powerful colt who could excel in one-turn races alongside other Curlin-sired standouts such as Cody’s Wish and Obligatory. Elite Power is now at stud for owner Juddmonte and has the opportunity to pass on these distinctive genes to new generations of hopeful Breeders’ Cup horses.
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