When Curlin commenced his stud career in 2008, expectations were elevated for the 2007 Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Classic champion, also a third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby and runner-up in the Belmont Stakes, to sire offspring capable of emulating his triumphs in long-distance dirt races at the highest echelon. Palace Malice, Vino Rosso, Exaggerator, and Malathaat convincingly demonstrated the Smart Strike lineage’s potential in that regard, but in his progeny Elite Power, Curlin manifested an alternative aptitude: the capacity to sire sprinters.
Elite Power underscored his pedigree’s adaptability with successive victories in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, illustrating the diverse forms that swift thoroughbreds can assume.
Impeccable Lineage
Elite Power’s prowess is legitimately inherited: not only does he have a sire honored as Horse of the Year on two occasions, but his dam, Broadway’s Alibi, achieved stakes success, winning the Forward Gal Stakes over seven furlongs and the Comely Stakes over one mile, before a near-miss in the 2012 Kentucky Oaks, where she finished second to Believe You Can by a margin of three-quarters of a length. Broadway’s Alibi, who raced for breeder E. Paul Robsham, was offered at auction following the passing of Robsham’s widow, Joyce, in 2015. She was acquired by Jon Clay’s Alpha Delta Stables for $2.15 million. In 2017, Clay opted to breed this daughter of Vindication to Curlin, and in 2018, the resulting foal was a striking chestnut colt, marked with a broad white blaze and three white socks.
This colt was presented at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was sold for $900,000 to Juddmonte Farms, owned by Prince Khalid bin Abdullah. Juddmonte’s team named him Elite Power and placed him under the tutelage of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Given the colt’s lineage, which included winners at distances of one mile or more, the stable initially anticipated a horse suited to classic distances. However, they discovered that his forte was shorter races, contingent upon getting him to the track at all. Shin ailments postponed Elite Power’s racing debut until his 3-year-old season, when he contested a six-furlong maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs in late September 2021, seven months after Prince Khalid’s death at 85. He finished sixth in that initial outing and required four attempts to secure his first victory, two during his 3-year-old season and two more at the beginning of the subsequent year at age 4.
Elite Power’s turning point occurred in a seven-furlong race at Churchill in late June, where he triumphed by nine lengths; this was followed by allowance victories at a mile and then six furlongs before Mott entered the colt in his first stakes race, the Grade 2 Vosburgh, during the fall 2022 Belmont at the Big A (Aqueduct) meet. Against a compact field of four competitors, Elite Power stalked the pace through the initial half-mile before seizing the lead following a moderate :47.68, ultimately winning by 5 ¾ lengths. The Vosburgh also served as a Win & You’re In qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. After four successive wins, Elite Power proceeded to Keeneland Race Course for the six-furlong championship event, where he was scheduled to face a significantly tougher field.
The challenge would reveal Elite Power’s true caliber.
Twice the Gold
The competition at Keeneland presented a sterner test for the chestnut colt. The 2022 Sprint lineup featured Aloha West, the 2021 Sprint victor; Jackie’s Warrior, a multiple Grade 1 stakes winner; and the filly Kimari, also a multiple graded stakes winner. Starting from post 6 of 11, Elite Power and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. were positioned seventh after the first quarter-mile and sixth after the first half-mile, before angling five-wide on the far turn to surge down the stretch, overtaking C Z Rocket in the final furlong to secure a 1 ¼-length victory in a final time of 1:09.11.
Transitioning from maiden to Breeders’ Cup champion in five starts, Elite Power was awarded the Eclipse Award for Champion Male Sprinter. “When we bought the colt we were dreaming of a mile-and-a-quarter and the Kentucky Derby, but he’s so brilliant sprinting,” Juddmonte’s general manager Garrett O’Rourke mentioned to BloodHorse. “Anytime you buy a horse at that kind of expense there’s a lot on the line, so it’s great to get rewarded.”
In 2023 at age 5, Elite Power was aimed at a second Breeders’ Cup Sprint appearance. Bill Mott initially directed him to Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Dirt Sprint Presented by Sports Boulevard, where Elite Power dominated a field that included Grade 1 winner Gunite, reinforcing his status as the premier dirt sprinter globally. Upon returning to the U.S., he secured victories in the Grade 2 True North Stakes and the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes over Gunite, overtaking his rival in the closing stages to win by a head. Following three consecutive wins at the start of 2023, Elite Power encountered Gunite again in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in late August. In that seven-furlong race, Gunite established the lead immediately, while Elite Power maintained a stalking position, waiting until the stretch to launch his challenge. However, this time, the Curlin offspring lacked the necessary surge to overtake his younger competitor, finishing 1 ¾ lengths behind in his final pre-Breeders’ Cup race.
Venturing to California for his ultimate start and a repeat attempt in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Elite Power arrived at Santa Anita Park as the morning-line favorite, ahead of Gunite and prominent California runners Speed Boat Beach, The Chosen Vron, and Dr. Schivel. Speed Boat Beach assumed the early lead in the Sprint, guiding the field through quarter-mile splits of :21.99 and half-mile splits of :44.35. Elite Power, under Irad Ortiz, positioned himself in third, swung four-wide on the far turn, and powered down the stretch to win by 1 ½ lengths at odds of 1.70-1, completing six furlongs in 1:08.34. After securing a second Eclipse Award for Champion Sprinter, Elite Power retired as a two-time Breeders’ Cup champion and joined Juddmonte’s American stallion roster in Kentucky.
With his victories in the 2022 and 2023 Sprints, Elite Power joined the ranks of Tiznow, Bayakoa, Miesque, Cody’s Wish, and other exceptional horses as repeat winners at the Breeders’ Cup World Championship. In recognition of his achievements, NYRA has renamed the six-furlong Runhappy Stakes in honor of Elite Power and moved it to Aqueduct’s fall meet schedule, where the Grade 3 race will be contested on Dec. 6.
As one of the foremost male dirt sprinters of the 21st century, accumulating nine wins in his final 10 starts, Elite Power showcased the diversity of his sire’s genetics, a robust colt capable of excelling in one-turn races alongside other Curlin-sired stars such as Cody’s Wish and Obligatory. Now standing at stud for owner Juddmonte, Elite Power has the opportunity to transmit his distinguished genes to future generations of Breeders’ Cup contenders.
