“Speightstown was a foundational sire for WinStar and helped stamp our legacy as a sire-making farm,” said Elliott Walden, president, CEO, and racing manager of WinStar Farm. “I want to thank Larry McGinnis and his team for all the love and care they gave “Speighty” as he was lovingly called. They helped him through three colic surgeries, and he had none in the last 13 years. His progeny ran on dirt, turf, six furlongs to 1 1/4 miles, and they always showed their grit. Like with any family member, he will be truly missed. We are fortunate to have his son Nashville in the shedrow, and we look forward to seeing Speightsown's legacy continue through him, and as a broodmare sire.”

WinStar's longtime Stallion Manager Larry McGinnis said, “We've been through a lot together in the last 19 years. We'll miss our friend.”

Bred in Kentucky by Aaron and Marie Jones, Speightstown first made headlines as a yearling when he sold for $2 million to Eugene Melnyk at the 1999 Keeneland July sale. In that era of heady prices, he was the co-fourth highest price of the exclusive sale with the first- and second-leading prices also for yearlings by Gone West.

In addition to being by Gone West, a Grade I winner who was among the leading sire sons of Mr. Prospector, Speightstown was out of Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Silken Cat. The now-deceased mare produced Speightstown as her first foal and 2017 GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner (and MGISP) Irap (Tiznow) as her last foal. She is also the granddam of two additional graded winners. Silken Cat's fifth dam was the Meadow Stud blue hen Hildene, whose five stakes-winning foals included Hall of Famer Hill Prince and additional champion First Landing.

Niggling injuries kept Speightstown from immediately showing his best on the track. He made only one start at two, finishing 13th and last in a Saratoga maiden special weight. On the bench for five months, he broke his maiden at Gulfstream in his sophomore debut by 6 3/4 lengths and eventually took three straight allowances before closing his season with a second in the GII Amsterdam S. Again benched, this time for 21 months with a knee injury, he completely missed a 4-year-old campaign and reappeared for just two starts at five that yielded a Belmont allowance win and a runner-up finish in the Jaipur H. before another 10 months on the sidelines.

Speightstown | Lee Thomas

It was at the age of six that Speightstown shone. Running in the Melnyk colors under the tutelage of seven-time Eclipse champion trainer Todd Pletcher, he started his campaign with his first black-type victory in the Artax H., then went on a three consecutive Grade II-win tear: the Churchill Downs H., the True North Breeders' Cup H., and the Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. He equaled the six-furlong track record of 1:08 at Saratoga in the Vanderbilt. A third in the GI Vosburgh S. snapped Speightstown's four-race win streak, but he came roaring back to win the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, held that year at Lone Star Park. Voted Eclipse champion sprinter, Speightstown retired with a record of 16-10-2-2 and earnings of $1,258,256, but the best was yet to come.

Retired to WinStar for a stallion venture partnership that included Taylor Made Farm, Speightstown initially stood for $40,000 and was part of a remarkable group of horses that stood their first seasons in 2005, including Tapit, Medaglia d'Oro, and Candy Ride (Arg). All four stallions are regularly among the top 10 leading sires in North America and all stand or have stood for six-figure fees.

To date from 16 crops of racing age, Speightstown has sired 138 black-type winners (9% from starters) and the earners of over $155 million. Among his 65 graded winners are 26 Grade I winners, including Breeders' Cup winners Tamarkuz and Sharing; Travers winner Golden Ticket; Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Haynesfield; distaffer Dance to Bristol; turfers Force the Pass, Seek Again, Competitionofideas and three-time Sovereign Award winner Lady Speightspeare; and sprinters Reynaldothewizard, Jersey Town, Rock Fall, Poseidon's Warrior and dual Sovereign Award-winning sprinter Essence Hit Man.

“Speightstown's rise reminds me of Distorted Humor,” said WinStar president and CEO Elliott Walden in 2013, “that rare ability to sire Grade I quality at all distances and all surfaces with top fillies and colts.”

Although Speightstown never won beyond seven furlongs and raced exclusively on the dirt, a hallmark of his progeny has been versatility, with graded winners both short and long and on both dirt and turf. In addition, despite Speightstown taking several years to mature into a stakes winner himself, he has had his share of black-type winners both as young horses and as older runners. Speightstown's 2020 was a banner year featuring four individual Grade I winners: Echo Town and Charlatan in the U.S., Lady Speightspeare in Canada, and Mozu Superflare in Japan. In 2023, Speightstown has been represented by 106 winners including GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity victor Prince of Monaco.

In recent years, Speightstown has also made a mark as a burgeoning sire of sires. His son Munnings closed out 2022 among the top 10 leading sires in the U.S. by earnings, finishing just one spot ahead of Speightstown himself, and is currently among the top five leading sires in the U.S. by earnings through 2023. In addition, Central Banker is among the leading sires in New York and Jersey Town sired a Grade I winner in his first crop. Speightstown is well-represented by sons at stud led by new additions Olympiad and Nasvhille along with Charlatan and Lexitonian.

Speightstown is also starting to make an impact as a broodmare sire, as his daughters have produced 62 stakes winners–24 graded–to date, including Grade I winners Aloha West (Hard Spun), Mia Mischief (Into Mischief) and Vekoma (Candy Ride {Arg}), as well as the late Laoban (Uncle Mo).

Speightstown was slated to stand in 2024 for $80,000 LFSN at the time of his death.

We're saddened to hear about the passing of Speightstown this morning at age 25.

The winner of the 2004 Breeders Cup Sprint at Lone Star Park definitely gave us a memory we will never forget. pic.twitter.com/7GBoeKZ83f

— Lone Star Park (@lonestarpark) December 8, 2023

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In between horses as Meraas (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) showed the way, the $900,0000 Keeneland September yearling raced in the last third of the field away from the kickback in the center of the track. Piloted by veteran jockey extraordinaire Frankie Dettori, who rode Juddmonte's star mare Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) and is riding his final season, the 5-year-old had about five lengths to make up at the 500-metre mark. The Italian said go a few strides later, and Elite Power unleashed a strong turn of foot to motor right by his rivals before the final furlong and win as he pleased. Gunite also made steady late progress to take second, another two lengths to the good of Remake (Jpn) (Lani). The victory marked the first time a Breeders' Cup winner had landed a Saudi Cup day event, and it was the first time an American-based horse had made the winner's circle in the Dirt Sprint.

Dettori, who had also finished second in the G3 Saudi Derby Presented By Boutique Group aboard Havnameltdown (Uncaptured), and filled the same spot later in the evening with Country Grammer (Tonalist) in the G1 Saudi Cup, said, “My first word has to be aeroplane. I was a little out of reach and asked him to get a little closer and then the turbo just kicked in and I was a passenger then. He's a very laid-back horse and only does what you ask him to do but wow he has some turn of foot.

“The Abdullah family has given so much to the sport; the legacy keeps going. I love these colors and it's nice to give the locals something to cheer about.”

Neil Poznansky, assistant to trainer Bill Mott, said, “He's a big strong animal. He shows nothing but class. He shipped over here like he was here his whole life. He's a good horse, a very good horse. His turn of foot is incredible, he's just incredible to watch, a magnificent animal.

“He's really coming into himself and getting better as he was really slow to mature. Now he's putting it all together. Bill doesn't come here without reason but bringing a horse like Elite Power is a good reason to come. For Frankie and Juddmonte it was like a whole dynasty thing.”

Comparatively lightly raced, Elite Power's victory was his sixth in a row. After an allowance optional claiming win at Saratoga in September, he ran out a 5 3/4-length winner of the GII Vosburgh S. at Belmont Park a month later, and secured his first top-level tally in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland Nov. 5.

Pedigree Notes:

One of the best dirt sires standing in America, dual Horse of the Year Curlin also thrived in desert conditions, taking the 2008 G1 Dubai World Cup. The Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa stallion has 93 stakes winners (51 graded) to his credit. Of Curlin's 20 Grade I-winning offspring, 11 trace tail male to Seattle Slew, and Elite Power is out of a Vindication mare, just like three-time Grade I winner and GI Preakness S. winner Exaggerator.

Broadway's Alibi won the GII Forward Gal S. and GIII Comely S. and was second in the GI Kentucky Oaks in 2012. Put in foal to Curlin's sire Smart Strike, the dark bay made $2.15 million from Alpha Delta Stables when offered as part of the E. Paul Robsham Stables dispersal during the 2013 Keeneland November Sale. The lone runner out of his dam, Elite Power has a 2-year-old full-brother, and Broadway's Alibi is carrying to City of Light.

GI Florida Derby hero Dialed In (Mineshaft) is a half-brother to the winner's granddam, Astoria S. heroine Broadway Gold (Seeking the Gold). Elite Power's fourth dam is American Champion Juvenile Filly Eliza (Mt. Livermore), who collected both the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and GI Santa Anita Oaks, and was second in the GI Kentucky Oaks.

Saturday, King Abdulaziz (Riyadh), Saudi Arabia
RIYADH DIRT SPRINT PRESENTED BY SPORTS BOULEVARD-G3, $1,500,000, King Abdulaziz, 2-25, 3yo/up, 1200m, 1:11.01, gd.
1–ELITE POWER, 126, h, 5, by Curlin
1st Dam: Broadway's Alibi (MGSW & GISP-US, $521,500), by Vindication
2nd Dam: Broadway Gold, by Seeking The Gold
3rd Dam: Miss Doolittle, by Storm Cat
($900,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Juddmonte; B-Alpha Delta Stables (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Lanfranco Dettori; $900,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. Male Sprinter-US, GISW-US, 9-6-0-1, $2,305,711. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
2–Gunite, 126, c, 4, Gun Runner–Simple Surprise, by Cowboy Cal. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Steven Asmussen; J-Tyler Gaffalione; $300,000.
3–Remake (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Lani–Sariel (Jpn), by King Kamehameha (Jpn). O-Koji Maeda; B-North Hills Co., Ltd. (Jpn); T-Koichi Shintani; J-Yuichi Fukunaga; $150,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, 2, 1. Odds: 1.00, 3.50, 4.50.
Also Ran: Justin (Jpn), Dancing Prince (Jpn), Ryuno Yukina (Jpn), Freedom Fighter, Pagan (Ire), Meraas (GB). VIDEO.

It's @FrankieDettori! – a retirement win in Riyadh.

Powers home in the @JuddmonteFarms silks aboard ELITE POWER.#TheSaudiCup pic.twitter.com/MG5E1FUbou

— The Saudi Cup (@thesaudicup) February 25, 2023

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Starting his career perfect in four starts, including convincing wins in the GI Runhappy Hopeful S. and GI Champagne S., the $95,000 Keeneland September buy suffered his first two losses in his only two-turn attempts to date, running fourth at 9-10 in the GI TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile and third in last February's local GIII Southwest S. The Steve Asmussen trainee has been kept around one turn since then, going four-for-six the rest of 2021, rattling off consecutive dazzling scores in the GII Amsterdam S., GI Woody Stephens S. and GII Gallant Bob S. That was enough to make him the biggest favorite of Breeders' Cup weekend at 1-2 in the Qatar Racing Sprint, but the bay was burned up on a quick pace and weakened in the final furlong to finish a disappointing sixth.

Jackie's Warrior returns with a sharp-looking worktab at Fair Ground and over this track, most notably going a bullet five furlongs from the gate at Oaklawn in :59 2/5 (1/45) Apr. 3.

The champ will likely have his hands full with an emerging Hot Springs talent, however, particularly if the fractions are swift. Michael and Patricia Feeney and Jennifer Grayson Taylor's Bob's Edge (Competitive Edge) won four of his first 11 starts from ages two to three, but failed to threaten in three stakes tries before having the proverbial lightbulb go on this winter. Debuting as a 4-year-old in the King Cotton S. here Jan. 29, the gelding blew to the front all the way from seventh just inside the quarter pole and kicked clear to a 2 3/4-length success, earning a career-best 97 Beyer. The Larry Jones pupil showed that was no fluke when passing every rival to repeat in the GIII Whitmore S. Mar. 19.

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“I think the reaction that we get from the rest of the people kind of mimics how we feel all the time about him,” Moquett said Friday morning. “It's like everybody's giving him credit, loving him or whatever. But Arkansas people kind of already thought that he was a champion, regardless, and it's kind of like the rest of world got to see what we've been thinking for three years.”

Among the gelding's 2020 Oaklawn starts, he took the Hot Springs S. last March-winning for a record fourth consecutive year–and a record third GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. in April.

Moquett confirmed Friday that the 8-year-old, who is currently in training at Oaklawn, will target a similar path in 2021 as to his championship season, beginning with the Hot Springs S. Mar. 13. Whitmore's major spring objective, according to Moquett, is again the GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. April 10. Both races are at six furlongs.

“Still the plan,” Moquett said. “He's going to run a mile and a half at Oaklawn [this winter].”

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“It is with some sadness but also great joy that we announce the retirement of Roy H from racing,” Miller said. “What can you say about a horse like this who has given us so many thrilling moments? He is the embodiment of class and we will definitely miss seeing him compete. Fortunately, we will not have to miss him for long as he will be retired as a barn pony and remain a very important part of our team. He is a ‘favorite son’ among our staff and the feeling seems to be mutual as Roy H loves to be around the other horses and loves to train.”

Bought for $310,000 at the 2014 Keeneland April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Roy H campaigned for Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen. He picked up his first stakes win in the 2017 GII True North S. and followed with victories in the GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. and GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He repeated in both of those events in 2018 and last raced when capturing the GII Palos Verdes S. last January.

“He gave Rockingham Ranch and me a tremendous ride,” Miller added. “It was both an honor and a pleasure to train such a magnificent animal. He is sound and healthy and this seemed like the right time to make this change in his career. We’ve had him since he was a 2-year-old, so watching him grow and mature into a world champion has been a great gift.”

Roy H retires with a record of 23/10-5-2 and earnings of $3,139,765.

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