Winning his eighth consecutive race in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes at Saratoga, last season's champion sprinter Elite Power (by Curlin) prompted a question to trainer Bill Mott from one of the television commentators about what it took to win eight races in a row. Mott wryly remarked that he knew how hard it was to win 17 in a row.
That was a reference to the Mott-trained Horse of the Year Cigar (1995 and 1996), who won 16 in a row, then lost the G1 Pacific Classic in a massive upset. Cigar (Palace Music) ran his streak from October 1994 to July 1996, winning 10 G1 races during that time, plus the 1996 Dubai World Cup and the G1 Woodward immediately after the Pacific Classic. The elegant and powerful bay was bred and raced by Allen Paulson, who owned large farms in Kentucky and Florida and operated a massive home breeding program at his Brookside Farm outside of Versailles, Ky.
The greatest of Paulson's homebreds, which also include 2002 Horse of the Year Azeri (Jade Hunter), Cigar hit his best form at four, five, and six after Mott switched him from turf to dirt. A scion of the Northern Dancer line, Cigar had been expected to follow his sire's preference for turf racing, but instead performed best on dirt like his broodmare sire, Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Sold to Coolmore's Ashford Stud as a stallion prospect at the end of his racing career, Cigar very sadly proved sterile, never siring a foal, but he became one of the grand attractions at the Kentucky Horse Park, where he was visited by thousands annually.
Although there's no Cigar in Elite Power's pedigree, the chestnut champion's fourth dam is Eliza (Mt. Livermore), the 1992 champion juvenile filly bred and raced by Paulson. Other Eclipse Award winners raced by Paulson, though not all bred by him, included Arazi (in partnership), U.S. and European champion 2-year-old of 1991; 1989 champion older horse Blushing John; 1997 champion 3-year-old filly Ajina; 1998 champion older filly or mare Escena; 1986 champion turf mare Estrapade; and 1987 champion grass horse Theatrical.
Eliza won five of her first six starts, including the Arlington-Washington Lassie, Alcibiades, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. The spritely bay opened her 3-year-old season with victory in the G1 Santa Anita Oaks, then was tried against colts in the Santa Anita Derby, finishing third. The filly's half-brother Dinard (Strawberry Road) had won the same race the previous year, and they are two of three stakes winners and six stakes horses from the fifth dam, Daring Bidder (Bold Bidder).
Subsequently, Eliza was second in the G1 Kentucky Oaks, and when sent to stud, the good-looking mare became the dam of Miss Doolittle (Storm Cat), who ran third in the G2 Schuylerville Stakes and then produced a pair of stakes winners: G1 Florida Derby winner Dialed In (Mineshaft) and Broadway Gold (Seeking the Gold), winner of the Astoria Stakes at Belmont and the second dam of Elite Power.
Broadway Gold was bred by Paulson's widow Madeleine, Will Farish, and Skara Glen Stables. The daughter of Seeking the Gold sold to Paul Robsham for $600,000 at the 2003 Keeneland September sale, became a stakes winner, and then a stakes producer. At the 2015 Keeneland November sale, the mare sold to SF Bloodstock for $950,000 in foal to Medaglia d'Oro. At the time of sale, the mare's three stakes winners were on the page, including G2 winner Broadway's Alibi (Vindication) and G3 winner Golden Lad (Medaglia d'Oro).
The dam of Elite Power, Broadway's Alibi won four of her six starts, including the G2 Forward Gal at Gulfstream, and was second to Believe You Can (Proud Citizen) in the G1 Kentucky Oaks of 2012. Broadway's Alibi never raced again but came to auction at the 2013 Keeneland November sale in foal to leading sire Smart Strike (Mr. Prospector). As part of the Robsham Stables dispersal, Broadway's Alibi brought $2.15 million from Reynolds Bell for Jon Clay's Alpha Delta Stables.
Bell recalled that “Broadway's Alibi had the depth of family that appealed to Mr. Clay, and she had shown a lot of ability on the racetrack.”
From six foals, Elite Power is the mare's only stakes winner. Unfortunately, Broadway's Alibi died foaling earlier this year, and Bell said that “losing both the mare and foal was devastating to Mr. Clay. Fortunately, he has the experience with the business to weather this kind of loss.”
Breeding horses requires patience and resilience, and Alpha Delta still has two daughters of Broadway's Alibi: Distorted Lies, a daughter of Smart Strike that the mare was carrying at the time of her purchase, and Prevaricate (Medaglia d'Oro), a 4-year-old.
“Mr. Clay's business plan concentrates on selling colts and retaining some fillies to race,” Bell said. One of the premier colts that Alpha Delta has produced from its program is Elite Power, whom Bell recalled as a top physical from the start. The colt went to the yearling sales without a hitch and sold like a future star.
Juddmonte, through farm manager Garrett O'Rourke, acquired Elite Power for $900,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September sale. The striking chestnut “was Curlin all over,” Bell recalled.
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If you appreciate our work, you can support us by subscribing to our Patreon stream. Learn more.Then Juddmonte was required to have the patience and faith in their selection to wait until September 2021 for the colt to make his debut. Their patience is being well rewarded.
Likewise, breeders need patience, and Alpha Delta has the 2-year-old full brother to Elite Power. “Occasionally, you end up with a colt you don't mind having; this is one of those,” Bell said. “The full brother to Elite Power had a vet issue for the sale, and we felt like he would be discounted too much; so we kept him.”
Unnamed as yet, the full brother was sent to Eddie Woods in Florida for breaking in and is now at WinStar. Bell noted that “we had to give him a little time to allow the vet issue to resolve the right way, and Elite Power didn't get to the races till the middle of his third year.” The plan is for the full brother to go into training with Chad Brown, if all continues well.
As a breeder and owner, Paulson was known for his patience, often well rewarded, and now, with Elite Power, another top racer rooted in his breeding program has shown the value in appreciating the long game.
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