Elite Power Caps Career With Repeat BC Sprint Win

When Garrett O'Rourke, manager of Juddmonte USA, saw a chestnut yearling by Curlin   out of Broadway's Alibi  at the 2019 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland, he envisioned a colt with the ability to race a distance. Curlin had been a Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner and dual Horse of the Year, and the dam had been second in the 2012 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at 1 1/8 miles.

Yet the horse's future would come not as a router but as a sprinter at the highest level, maintained with excellence for two consecutive years.

On Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park, that horse—Elite Power  —became a repeat winner of the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) by closing to win the $1.8 million race by 1 1/2 lengths over Gunite  . Last fall, he had won the Sprint at Keeneland during a year when he earned an Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter.

Another title is likely on the way, hardware the Juddmonte team can collect in late January, just as the 2024 breeding season is set to begin. Elite Power will stand for $50,000 next year at Juddmonte near Lexington.

The Bill Mott-trained Elite Power became the third repeat Breeders' Cup winner on Saturday, following the success of his stablemate Cody's Wish   in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and Goodnight Olive  in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). In the 40 years of the Breeders' Cup, just two others have repeated in the Sprint: Roy H   in 2017-18 and Midnight Lute   in 2007-08.

Irad Ortiz Jr., who won three Breeders' Cup races Saturday and was awarded the Bill Shoemaker Award as the event's most successful rider, put his mount in position to have success. Seeing few horses win from far back on the main track except for Cody's Wish, Ortiz said he consulted with Mott and elected to give Elite Power a spirited warm-up, a move designed to have Elite Power closer than usual to the leaders.

He was. Though seventh of eight after an opening quarter-mile in :21.99 as Speed Boat Beach  went to the lead, Elite Power was just 3 1/4 lengths off the pace. He then advanced into third on the turn, 1 1/2 lengths behind Speed Boat Beach's half-mile in :44.35.

Speed Boat Beach's lead began to dwindle, with a pace-pressing Gunite   dialing up the heat. But none could contain Elite Power, who rallied on the outside to take over in the final furlong. He paid $5.40 to win as the favorite.

"I was in the passenger seat until the quarter pole, then I just asked him and he responded," Ortiz said.

The jockey won his third Sprint after piloting Whitmore to win the 2020 race at Keeneland. He has 20 wins in Breeders' Cup history, tied for second with John Velazquez. Mike Smith leads with 27. 

Gunite, under Tyler Gaffalione, held second Saturday, a half-length ahead of Nakatomi , who showed beneath jockey Luis Saez.

"I absolutely love him," Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said of runner-up Gunite. "He gives such a great effort all the time."

Gunite and Elite Power raced four times together over 2023, with Gunite coming out on top in the Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course and Elite Power victorious in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G3) in Saudi Arabia and the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga in addition to the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Asmussen noted the winning time of the race—1:08.34—in praising the Sprint competitors. "They're the fastest horses in the world," he said.

Speed Boat Beach faded to fourth.

Elite Power resumed his successful ways in the Sprint after a second-place finish in the Aug. 26 Forego, a loss that ended an eight-race win streak. 

"Really I have to thank Bill and all his staff at doing an absolutely masterful job in managing the horse and keeping him (sharp) because, when this horse came good, by golly, did he stay good. He's gone out good now," O'Rourke said.

Elite Power, bred by Alpha Delta Stables and a $900,000 yearling purchase by Juddmonte, made $1,040,000 in winning in the Sprint to improve his earnings to $3,775,711. He is 9-1-1 in 13 starts.

The Sprint gave Mott his third win during the two-day Breeders' Cup. A day earlier, he took the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with George Krikorian's Just F Y I  and the Dirt Mile with Godolphin's Cody's Wish on Saturday.

"I'm really proud of my staff and the riders that ride for us and the grooms and the hot walkers. They really step up," Mott said. "I think I'm fortunate enough to have one of the best crews in the entire country, and I think it pays off."

Juddmonte also won two Breeders' Cup races Saturday, connecting with the Brad Cox-trained Idiomatic  in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). Idiomatic, like Elite Power, is likely an Eclipse Award winner. Juddmonte is a 10-time Breeders' Cup-winning owner.

Progeny of Curlin   took three of the 14 Breeders' Cup races. Besides Elite Power, Cody's Wish and Idiomatic were the two others. Curlin stands for a $250,000 fee next year at Hill 'n' Dale Farms near Paris, Ky.