Elite Power Thunders Home Late to Take BC Sprint

Patience paid off for Juddmonte, Bill Mott, and Irad Ortiz Jr., as lightly raced Elite Power  stormed home to take the $2 million Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) by 1 1/4 lengths in his first try at grade 1 company.

Odds-on favorite Jackie's Warrior   never accelerated in the stretch and finished an even third in his final career start.

Elite Power broke sharply but was kept in hand by Ortiz. Jackie's Warrior would not get an easy lead thanks to longshot Super Ocho . As Super Ocho sped through fractions of :22.12 and :44.99, Jackie's Warrior and Joel Rosario stalked from the outside, well clear of the rest of the field. Elite Power, meanwhile, gradually improved his position while three wide on the turn. 

"I let him sit and he relaxed well," Ortiz said. "There was a strong pace in front of me. I bided my time and then, on the turn, I split horses inside and got in the clear. He deserves all the credit."

Rosario kept Jackie's Warrior in the clear the whole way—his primary concern was keeping the champion out of trouble. But when asked for more, it wasn't there, or at least not in the way Rosario has felt in the past.

"He did everything I asked him to do," Rosario said. "That horse (Super Ocho) went to the lead and I sat right off of him. He ran his race." 

Those looking for Jackie's Warrior to blow by Super Ocho were instead drawn to a big white blaze barreling down on his outside. Ortiz was able to cut the corner into a massive opening at the quarter pole that somehow nobody else was claiming. 

"When I tipped him out, he was there for me," Ortiz said. "He kept going forward. He gave me a really good kick from the quarter pole to the wire."

By the time Jackie's Warrior briefly got the lead near the eighth pole it was evident that Elite Power would run him down, which happened inside the sixteenth pole. C Z Rocket , second in this race the last time it was at Keeneland two years ago, made a bid from the rail at the same time Jackie's Warrior did and also briefly hit the front.

"I thought for a second that we were going to win it, just for a second; then I saw (Elite Power) was coming," said C Z Rocket's trainer Peter Miller. "I knew we were getting by the ones in front of us, but (Elite Power) ran super and ran us down."

Ortiz was riding Elite Power for the first time and Mott had warned him about the colt's tendency to wait on horses when he hits the lead.

"I think you could tell, Irad got him out away from everybody and got him down the middle of the racetrack," Mott said. "And he came with a good run."

Elite Power completed the six furlongs in 1:09.11, the slowest of three runnings of this race at Keeneland and the slowest Breeders' Cup Sprint in more than 10 years (Amazombie, 1:09.17, Churchill Downs, 2011). Not that time matters all that much when you win a Breeders' Cup race against a field stacked with grade 1 winners led by a champion such as Jackie's Warrior. 

It was the second Breeders' Cup win on the day for Mott, who also scored earlier with Cody's Wish  in the Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), and a 12th career win at the World Championships. 

Juddmonte has won eight Breeders' Cup races. Because most of their top runners are homebreds, it's worth paying attention when they shell out top dollars for a horse at auction, as they did with Arrogate ($560,000) and now Elite Power, a $900,000 purchase as a yearling at Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2019. 

"Going back to when Prince Khalid was with us, he wanted to start buying some horses at the sales," said Juddmonte general manager Garrett O'Rourke of the late Juddmonte owner. "Obviously we got off to a good start with Arrogate and followed up with horses like this guy, just a beautiful horse from the very beginning."

By Curlin  , out of the Vindication  mare Broadway's Alibi, Elite Power never started as a 2-year-old and finished off the board in two starts at 3 before he put things together.

"He had baby issues," Mott said. "And we didn't get him until his 3-year-old year. But he had typical stuff like shins that many horses have. And it was just a matter of waiting for him to get right."

Added O'Rourke: "He was a high-energy horse who just always seemed to manage to get himself in trouble. We went through the whole of his 2-year-old year, never got him off the farm. Give a lot of credit to Scott Walker and his team in our training barn who had endless patience with him. He's a tough horse to handle."

Mott declared, jokingly, but optimistically, that Elite Power would be back next year, while O'Rourke offered a more diplomatic, "Our CEO and the family need to have a strong say." 

The winner paid $13.10 as the third choice in the wagering. 

For fan favorite, as well as betting favorite Jackie's Warrior, it was another disappointing Breeders' Cup, faltering as an odds-on choice for the third straight year. 

"It's just amazing that a horse as great as he is has never won a Breeders' Cup race," trainer Steve Asmussen said. "He's a very special horse—physically, mentally, and his ability. It's a disappointment. I was happy with where he was at (during the race). If I could do it over again, obviously, I wouldn't have hung out where he did. I don't like the outcome, but hail to the victor."