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Dirt Sprinters Goodnight Olive, Elite Power Take Home Eclipse Hardware

Breeders' Cup Sprint champions in their races, both Goodnight Olive and Elite Power turned heads, as they rattled off a string of quality victories.

GOODNIGHT OLIVE
Goodnight Olive brought a salty four-race win streak into her stakes debut and then promptly reeled off two of the biggest Grade I prizes for female sprinters, making her a no-brainer choice for Eclipse champion female sprinter.

She debuted in 2021 with a runner-up finish in a Gulfstream maiden, then went to the sidelines for seven months, never to lose again. The dark bay reappeared at Keeneland's 2021 fall meet with an 8 1/2-length maiden score, followed it up with a nine-length allowance win at Aqueduct, and then took another seven-month break. She hadn't lost a step upon return this past June, smartly taking back-to-back allowances at Belmont and Saratoga by open lengths. Up against three Grade I winners, including reigning champion female sprinter Ce Ce (Elusive Quality), for her coming-out party in the GI Ballerina, Goodnight Olive was sent off at 5-1 but surged clear in the stretch to win with aplomb. Although lightly raced coming into the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, she again overpowered her foes, sizzled to a 101 Beyer Speed Figure, and kept her 2022 season flawless. In addition to her Eclipse as female sprinter, she was also a finalist for older dirt female.

Trainer Chad Brown has said Goodnight Olive is much like her Horse of the Year sire, not necessarily touted for soundness, but certainly for brilliance. Steve Laymon, founder of co-owner First Row Partners, won his second Eclipse as he also co-owned Dayatthespa (City Zip), champion grass mare of 2014.

Goodnight Olive got some time off following the Breeders' Cup and is gearing up for a 5-year-old campaign.

Early Impressions…
“A nice filly and a later-maturing type. We thought she would stand out in October and benefit from the additional time.” –John Moynihan, Stonestreet's bloodstock advisor

“Goodnight Olive really stood out to me at Fasig October. She was on the final day of the four-day sale, but once we saw her early on we knew we had to wait patiently to try and get her purchased. She was a bit offset but had so much athleticism in the way she moved and a lot of class with some edginess. She was on the smaller side (not anymore), but being almost a May foal and by Ghostzapper she was big enough. She had just enormous potential and she has certainly lived up to all of our expectations and then some.” –Liz Crow, agent for First Row Partners

–Jill Williams

ELITE POWER
A winner of five of his last six starts in 2022, Elite Power topped off his season with a defeat of both MGSW & MGISP C Z Rocket (City Zip) and last year's Eclipse champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) in the GI Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Though he didn't break his maiden until June, Elite Power went on a hot streak through the summer, working his way up the ranks with two wins against allowance company before stepping up in dominating fashion to take the GII Vosburgh S. at Belmont's Aqueduct meeting by 5 1/4 lengths Oct. 8.

Drawn mid pack as a 5-1 shot behind heavily favored Jackie's Warrior in the Sprint, Elite Power took his time early on under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., racing seventh as Super Ocho (Chi) (Dubai Sky) paced the field through tiring fractions of :22.12 and :44.99. Steadily advancing while three wide around the turn, Elite Power came running from the middle of the track to overtake the leaders with a sixteenth to run, hitting the wire 1 1/4 lengths ahead of his rivals.

“I had the perfect trip,” Ortiz, Jr. said of his Breeders' Cup ride aboard Elite Power. “He broke real sharp and I let him settle. I let the speed go. I was able to cut the corner around the turn. When I tipped him out, he was there for me. He kept going forward. He gave me a really good kick from the quarter-pole to the wire. He's a nice horse. I rode him with a lot of confidence.”

A $900,000 yearling for Juddmonte out of the Lane's End consignment, Elite Power beat out another son of Curlin and Mott trainee in Cody's Wish (Curlin) for the award. He remains in training for the 2023 season and most recently worked four furlongs in :48.80 (1/17) Jan. 25.

–Stefanie Grimm

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“A Mix of Speed and Stamina,” Olympiad Attracts Breeders at Gainesway

It's not often that a runner-up effort translates into a key selling point for a new stallion, but when that second-place finish comes behind a horse like Flightline, people take notice. Such has been the case for Olympiad (Speightstown – Tokyo Time, by Medaglia d'Oro), whose career finale in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic made him a standout in the 2023 class of incoming stallions.

Ryan Norton, who joined Gainesway as the farm's new stallion director a few weeks before the Breeders' Cup, explained how Olympiad's performance at Keeneland over fellow Grade I-winning Classic contenders Taiba, Rich Strike, Life Is Good and others led to a busy stretch of open houses at Gainesway as breeders were eager to inspect the multi-millionaire.

“The Breeders' Cup was the pinnacle of Olympiad's career,” Norton said. “It was a race that had breeders look at him and say, 'This is a real-deal horse.' I think that was the reason why he was such a success when he retired here. He had hundreds of people coming to view him and he was booked full within three weeks of his arrival.”

Certainly the campaign that Olympiad put together throughout his 4-year-old season was further incentive for inquiring breeders. A lightly-raced winner at both two and three, the Bill Mott trainee strung together five graded stakes scores in 2022, starting with a track-record setting win in the GIII Mineshaft S. and then continuing on with further victories in the GII New Orleans Classic S., the GII Alysheba S., the GII Stephen Foster S. and the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup S.

“Olympiad had a mix of speed and stamina,” Norton explained. “He won at seven furlongs and he won at a mile and a quarter. He ran eight triple-digit Beyers up to 111, so he was definitely a very fast horse and he could carry his speed. He had six wins from eight starts at four, plus a second in the Breeders' Cup Classic. To do that in this day and age with such a deep field of older horses in 2022 really showed the quality and perseverance that this horse had.”

Norton said that the members of Olympiad's partnership – Robert Clay's Grandview Equine, Everett Dobson's Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods – have all submitted some of their best mares to Olympiad and that the new Gainesway stallion will breed between 185 and 200 mares in 2023.

With an initial stud fee of $35,000, Olympiad is one of seven stallions by Speightstown standing in Kentucky, but Norton explained that this particular son of the WinStar stalwart offers a unique opportunity for breeders.

“One of the main things that breeders have been saying is that he has a lot more size and a lot more scope that the typical Speightstown. That was something that I think they were very intrigued with. The mating can produce something that's going to be a little bigger and a little rangier, a horse that is going to be able to run short or long. He's 16'1, so you see a lot of Medaglia d'Oro, his broodmare sire, coming out.”

The Speightstown-Medaglia d'Oro cross has been a rewarding mating. Along with Olympiad, Speightstown's Grade I winners out of Medaglia d'Oro mares include Rock Fall and Competitionofideas. The cross has also produced Grade III victors Strike Power and Souper Stonehenge.

“It works well because you get the speed of Speightstown with the stamina of Medaglia,” Norton noted.

With a pedigree tracing back to Emory Hamilton's foundation mare Too Chic, Olympiad's extended family features a host of Grade I winners including sires Preservationist, Keen Ice, and Verrazano. His dam Tokyo Time, herself a turf success with a runner-up placing in the GIII Herecomesthebride S., is a half to MGSW Hungry Island (More Than Ready) and GSW Soaring Empire (Empire Maker).

“It's a very deep family which is why, between his looks and that female family, he was a $700,000 Keeneland September yearling,” Norton said. “Solis/Litt Bloodstock bought him and they're known for picking out very attractive horses, so breeders are aware when they come here that he is going to have a certain look that they are going to like. He's a great walker. He drops his head, really extends and has a nice overreach. Looking at the horse and how he moves, you understand exactly how he was such a good racehorse.”

Along with Olympiad, Gainesway also welcomes Drain the Clock (Maclean's Music – Manki, by Arch) to their roster for 2023. The speedy sprinter earned three graded stakes wins over his three-year career, including a victory over champion Jackie's Warrior in the 2021 GI Woody Stephens S. He will stand for $10,000 in his debut season.

For more on this year's class of incoming stallions, click here.

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Pegasus World Cup Hopefuls Tune Up

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini) tuned up for the Jan. 28 GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational with a five-furlong drill in 1:01.60 (1/5) at Payson Park Sunday.

“He went very well this morning,” said trainer Bill Mott. “I was happy with him. He galloped out well and cooled out. It's looking like he's coming into the race well.”

Art Collector, winner of the 2021 GI Woodward S. and two-time winner of the GII Charles Town Classic, has been off since finishing fifth in the Oct. 1 GII Lukas Classic. He was originally being considered for the Dec. 3 GI Cigar Mile at Aqueduct and the Dec. 31 GIII Harlan's Holiday S. at Gulfstream, the local prep for the Pegasus.

“We were thinking of the Cigar Mile, but we lost some time with him due to a foot abscess,” Mott said. “Then we considered the Harlan's Holiday, but we felt we just needed more time.”

Jet Set Racing Stable's Super Corinto (Arg) (Super Saver) breezed a half-mile in :49.03 (4/58) at Gulfstream Park Sunday morning in preparation for a start in the Pegasus World Cup.

The work was the fifth in a series of works since the 5-year-old captured a Dec. 8 optional-claiming allowance at Gulfstream. He was a Group 1 winner in Chile before being sent to trainer Amador Sanchez, for whom he finished second behind Chilean Group 1 winner O'Connor (Chi) (Boboman) in his U.S. debut Nov. 12.

Both South American imports, who took turns beating each other in Group 1 races before heading to the U.S., are among the 12 horses invited to the Pegasus World Cup.

Ivar (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}) turned in his penultimate work for the Jan. 28 GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational with a five-furlong work in 1:02.00 (2/15) at the Thoroughbred Training Center Saturday.

“Ivar is ready,” said trainer Paulo Lobo. “His work [Saturday] was very good, in company nice and easy, like he likes to do. His final work will be next Saturday here, and then we're going to ship him either that Monday or Tuesday.”

Third in the 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Mile, Ivar was second in last year's GI Woodbine Mile and GI Coolmore Turf Mile before ending the year with a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland in his most recent start.

“I think his race was very good,” Lobo said of the 2022 Breeders' Cup Mile won by European standout Modern Games. “He lost to a very top horse. Javier Castellano was riding him for the first time. He rode a very good race, and since then we've pointed for the Pegasus Turf and we've never missed a day and never had a bad day. Everything that we planned is happening, no problems.”

Lobo said Justify My Love (Brz) (Agnes Gold {Jpn}), like Ivar owned by Bonne Chance Farm LLC and breeder Stud RDI LLC, will compete in the GI Pegasus Filly & Mare Turf Invitational on the Jan. 28 undercard.

Justify My Love was a Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed in Argentina before being sent to Lobo last year. Off a nine-month layoff, she was sixth in her first two starts before capturing a Churchill Downs' turf allowance race Nov. 19 in her most recent start.

“She's a very nice filly,” Lobo said. “It took a little while for her to adjust here, but she had a very nice win at Churchill Downs. She's in top form now, physically and mentally. I think she'll run well over there. The race is very tough, but I think she's going to enjoy a mile and an eighth. She's training super, this filly. Super.”

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Son of Violence Nice on Debut

2nd-Aqueduct, $70,000, (S), Msw, 1-7, 3yo, 6f, 1:11.75, my, 10 1/4 lengths.
PLEASE BE NICE (c, 3, Violence–Oenophile, by Pulpit), an RNA as a yearling for $45,000, he sold for $210,000 EASMAY before starting his training regime over the summer at Saratoga. Going off at odds of 3-1, the chestnut colt broke alertly and dueled for the lead up front as the field went down the backstretch with a time of :22.77 after a quarter-mile. Please Be Nice rode the rail at a controlling :47.24 for the half, and at the top of the lane proceeded to run off the page, getting clear of the next competitor, 10-1 Disarmed (Maclean's Music), by an eye-catching 10 1/4 lengths. Part of a family that includes second dam GSW Win McCool (Candy Ride {Arg}); GSP Cool Beans (Candy Ride {Arg}; and 'TDN Rising Star' G1SW Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon), the winner's dam has a 2-year-old filly by Practical Joke and foaled a yearling colt by Hard Spun.

Sales Record: $45,000 RNA Ylg '21 SARAUG; $210,000 2yo '22 EASMAY. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $38,500. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Carem Stables; B-Richard Lugovich Jr. & Barbara Nelson (NY); T-William I. Mott.

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