Elite Power, Gunite Continue Rivalry in BC Sprint

A rivalry that began earlier this year in Saudi Arabia between Elite Power   and Gunite  that continued over the summer at Saratoga Race Course has one more stop: Santa Anita Park. On Nov. 4, the two high-class older horses meet in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1), a six-furlong contest that will mark their fourth and final meeting.

Juddmonte's Elite Power, last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint winner and the reigning champion older male sprinter, will be retired to stud at Juddmonte in Central Kentucky after the Breeders' Cup. 

Though last-out graded stakes winners Dr. Schivel  , The Chosen Vron , and Hoist the Gold  are also entered, Elite Power and Gunite are the probable favorites. Both are three-time winners this year, including once apiece at the grade 1 level.

Elite Power, trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, defeated Gunite in the July 29 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course before Winchell Thoroughbreds' Gunite turned the tables in the Aug. 26 Forego Stakes (G1). The Vanderbilt came at six furlongs, the Forego at seven-eighths. 

Race flow and tactics affected the outcome. Elite Power rallied outside a pace-pressing Gunite to win the Vanderbilt before Gunite went to the front in the Forego and held off an inside stretch bid from Elite Power.

"He really stepped it up, kind of dictated things his way, but he was in control," said Gunite's regular jockey, Tyler Gaffalione. "Honestly, I think if we go around again, (Elite Power) doesn't get by."

Their only other meeting came in the Feb. 25 Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3) at King Abdulaziz Racecourse when Elite Power outran Gunite by 3 1/4 lengths, a race in which Gaffalione said Gunite was simply "second best."

Since the Forego, they have followed differing paths to the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Mott gave Elite Power a short freshening before the colt's career finale. Elite Power's defeat in the Forego followed eight consecutive victories.

"I don't have any lack of confidence in him," Mott said in an interview with reporters that was recorded by Jennie Rees, publicist for the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association. "I mean, look, it's a horse race. They got to go over there and do it, have a good trip. I have no reason to believe he is not as good as he was last year."

Only two horses have won the Sprint in back-to-back years: Roy H  in 2017-18 and Midnight Lute   in 2007-08.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen raced Gunite once after the Forego, giving him a two-turn race in the Sept. 23 Parx Dirt Mile Stakes in possible prep for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). He was outrun down the lane at odds of 3-10 over a sloppy track.

The race was his second defeat around two turns. He ran fourth, beaten four lengths, in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last fall at Keeneland.

Asked if he felt the slop or the distance led to Gunite's defeat at Parx, Gaffalione said, "Honestly, I would have to say a combination of both.

"We're still not completely convinced he can't get the mile. It just has to be under the right circumstances," he added.

A versatile son of Gun Runner  , Gunite has won stakes races from six to seven furlongs. His grade 1 victories have come at the latter distance—in the Forego and the 2021 Hopeful Stakes (G1).

Neither late-running Elite Power nor the speedier Gunite have raced in California, though Gunite has trained at Santa Anita for the past month with other Asmussen horses.

Leading the locally-based runners in the Sprint are Dr. Schivel and The Chosen Vron. The former, a dual grade 1-winning son of Violence   for owners Red Baron's Barn, Rancho Temescal, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, and William Branch, ran second in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar, beaten a nose when Aloha West   nailed him on the wire.

After making just one start last year, a third in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) at Meydan, Dr. Schivel is 2-for-4 this year at age 5. He won an allowance to begin his season in May and most recently took the Sept. 30 Santa Anita Sprint Championship Stakes (G2), a race he also won in 2021 before his photo-finish loss in the Breeders' Cup.

In this year's Santa Anita Sprint Championship, the Mark Glatt-trained Dr. Schivel wore down front-running Bob Baffert trainee Speed Boat Beach , who returns in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and might be the one to catch in a race short of speed for a grade 1 race at six furlongs.

Gaffalione also believes the pace makeup of the race will suit Gunite.

Dr. Schivel's two defeats this year were a fifth in the June 10 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at a mile, longer than his preferred distance, and a follow-up third, beaten a head, in the six-furlong Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.

Scoring a hard-fought win in a blanket finish in the Bing Crosby was The Chosen Vron, a California-bred son of Vronsky  who notched his eighth consecutive victory. The Bing Crosby was his first top-level stakes victory, though he won the Lazaro Barrera Stakes (G3) and Affirmed Stakes (G3) in graded events at age 3. Most of his 13 career wins have come in California-bred races for trainer Eric Kruljac, who co-owns him with Sondereker Racing, Robert Fetkin, and Richard Thornburgh.

The victory in the Bing Crosby earned him an automatic berth through the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In. Hoist the Gold similarly qualified by upsetting the Oct. 6 Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland for owner/breeder Dream Team One Racing and trainer Dallas Stewart.