Elite Power | Horse Racing Free Tips

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

The post Dirt Sprinters Goodnight Olive, Elite Power Take Home Eclipse Hardware appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Elite Power Upsets Jackie’s Warrior In Sprint

LEXINGTON, KY – Now that's an 'Elite' sprinter.

Juddmonte's streaking Elite Power (Curlin) came storming down the center of the course with massive strides to blow past longshot C Z Rocket (City Zip) and heavily favored champion Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music) to capture Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland. The 5-1 winner punched his ticket to the bluegrass with a visually impressive score in Belmont's seven-furlong GII Vosburgh S.

Hall of Famer Bill Mott was also in the winner's circle with another son of Curlin two races earlier on the card with Cody's Wish in the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

“The cut back today was always a little concerning when you are running against a horse as good as Jackie's Warrior but hey, he come down in the middle of the racetrack and ran them all down,” Mott said after saddling his 12th winner at the Championships.

Seventh as 41-1 longshot Super Ocho (Chi) (Dubai Sky) led with Jackie's Warrior sitting the trip in second through an opening quarter in :22.12, Elite Power appeared to have his work cut out for him as they approached the quarter pole.

Super Ocho cornered very wide and forced Jackie's Warrior into the six path, but the 3-5 favorite still had dead aim. Elite Power was just getting warmed up though. Irad Ortiz, Jr. tipped the blaze-faced chestnut out into the clear and he came over the top like an absolute freight train down the lane to win going away by 1 1/4 lengths.

Off the board in a pair of attempts at three, Elite Power has been perfect in five attempts since kicking off the 2022 season with a third-place finish behind the promising 'Rising Star' Strobe (Into Mischief) at Churchill on Derby Day. A nine-length maiden winner beneath the Twin Spires June 5, he added two more victories in come-from-behind fashion, capturing a first-level allowance going a mile in Louisville June 30 and an optional claimer going six furlongs at Saratoga Sept. 3. The deep closer showed a new dimension last time in the five-horse field Vosburgh, sitting right on the pace in a race lacking any true early speed.

“I had the perfect trip,” Ortiz, Jr. said of his third Breeders' Cup win of the weekend and 17th overall at the Championships. “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.”

Just like Juddmonte's brilliant and gone-to-soon Classic winner Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), Elite Power was also acquired at Keeneland's auction house as a yearling for $900,000. Juddmonte has now won eight Breeders' Cup races.

“Going back to when Prince Khalid was with us, he wanted to start buying some horses at the sales,” Juddmonte's Garrett O'Rourke said. “Obviously, we got off to a good start with Arrogate and followed up with horses like this guy, beautiful horse from the very beginning.

He continued, “The satisfaction of racing at the top end and ultimately winning is what we're all–there's a huge crowd here today and every participant is having the same dream, and we're lucky enough to be here.”

The tough-as-nails 8-year-old gelding C Z Rocket was also second in 2020 Sprint over this same course.

“I'm pretty happy,” trainer Peter Miller said. “Other than winning, I couldn't be happier for this guy, at 8 years old, to run like this. It took a really big effort from the winner to beat us, I couldn't be more proud of the team, and of the horse, and Flavien [Prat] gave him a great ride.”

Five-time GISW Jackie's Warrior, also beaten as the favorite in the 2020 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile and last year's Sprint, is slated to join the stallion barn at Spendthrift Farm in 2023.

“It's just amazing that a horse as great as he is has never won a Breeders' Cup race,” Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He's a very special horse–physically, mentally and his ability. It's a disappointment. I don't like the outcome, but hail to the victor.”

Pedigree Notes:

Elite Power gave Curlin his second of three Breeders' Cup winners on the card. He later was represented by heart-stopping Distaff heroine Malathaat upping his total to five. The 2007 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner is also the sire of Classic winner Vino Rosso and Juvenile hero Good Magic. His Stellar Wind was a painful second in the 2015 Distaff at Keeneland. Elite Power is Curlin's 20th Grade I winner.

Broodmare sire Vindication concluded his four-for-four career with a win in the 2002 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Arlington. Elite Power is bred on the same Curlin/Vindication cross as GI Preakness S. winner Exaggerator. Elite Power's dam Broadway's Alibi, a MGSW & GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up and Robsham homebred, brought $2.15 million from Alpha Delta Stables while in foal to Smart Strike at the 2013 KEENOV sale. Broadway's Alibi is also represented by a Curlin colt of 2021. She was bred to City of Light for 2023.

Elite Power's fourth dam is champion 2-year-old filly and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies heroine Eliza (Mt. Livermore). This is also the family of GISW and young sire Dialed In (Mineshaft).

Saturday, Keeneland
QATAR RACING BREEDERS' CUP SPRINT-GI, $1,840,000, Keeneland, 11-5, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.11, ft.
1–ELITE POWER, 126, c, 4, by Curlin
                1st Dam: Broadway's Alibi (MGSW & GISP, $521,500), by Vindication
                2nd Dam: Broadway Gold, by Seeking the Gold
                3rd Dam: Miss Doolittle, by Storm Cat
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($900,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Juddmonte;
B-Alpha Delta Stables, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Irad Ortiz,
Jr. $1,040,000. Lifetime Record: 8-5-0-1, $1,405,711. Werk
Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–C Z Rocket, 126, g, 8, City Zip–Successful Sarah, by
Successful Appeal. ($800,000 2yo '16 OBSOPN). O-Altamira
Racing Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, Gary Barber & Tom
Kagele; B-Farm III Enterprises (FL); T-Peter Miller. $340,000.
3–Jackie's Warrior, 126, c, 4, Maclean's Music–Unicorn Girl, by
A.P. Five Hundred. ($95,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-J. Kirk & Judy
Robison; B-J & J Stables (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.
$180,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, 3/4. Odds: 5.55, 31.45, 0.77.
Also Ran: Manny Wah, O Besos, Super Ocho (Chi), Kimari, American Theorem, Flash of Mischief, Willy Boi, Aloha West.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

The post Elite Power Upsets Jackie’s Warrior In Sprint appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘Rising Star’ Strobe Returns with Style in Keeneland Allowance

8th-Keeneland, $110,000, Alw, 10-14, (NW2L), 3yo/up, 6f, 1:10.46, ft, 6 lengths.
STROBE (c, 3, Into Mischief–Flashing {MGISW, $633,226}, by A.P. Indy) hoisted his 'TDN Rising Star'-dom even higher for all to see with this monster return off the layoff after needing some more time to overcome minor issues. Sporting an eye-catching 99 Beyer for his unveiling May 7 on the Derby Day undercard–a race where he dominated a field which included eventual GSW Elite Power (Curlin), currently on a four-race win streak–the Godolphin homebred was hammered down to overwhelming 1-5 favoritism here and made it look like a gift. Breaking well and tugging his way to the lead early, he put up a :46.55 half and rolled into the lane well in-hand before producing a second wind when lightly asked to put distance on a chasing Classic Moment (Classic Empire) and won by a widening six lengths. A half to Floodlight (Medaglia d'Oro), SW & MGSP-Fr, $111,885, Strobe is the most recent winning edition for Flashing, whose 2020 Include foal was stillborn but had a 2022 weanling by Street Boss. She visited Liam's Map for 2023. This is the female family of Canadian Champion 3-year-old filly and 1990 Broodmare of the Year, Kamar. Lifetime Record: 2-2-0-0, $133,398. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox.

The post ‘Rising Star’ Strobe Returns with Style in Keeneland Allowance appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Friday Insights: ‘TDN Rising Star’ Strobe Returns For Godolphin

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

8th-KEE, $110K, Alw, 3yo/up, 6f, 4:44 p.m.

Dubbed a 'TDN Rising Star' for his 4 1/2-length gate-to-wire debut performance on Derby Day at Churchill Downs May 7, STROBE (Into Mischief) returns in the Godolphin royal blue Friday. Given a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for his defeat of Elite Power (Curlin), who has since won four-in-a-row including last weekend's GII Vosburgh S., Strobe enters off a five-furlong work in 1:00 4/5 Oct. 7 (2/19) for trainer Brad Cox. Out of GI Test S. winner Flashing (A.P. Indy), he is a half-brother to SW & MGSP Floodlight (Medaglia d'Oro) and retains Florent Geroux for the ride. TJCIS PPS

The post Friday Insights: ‘TDN Rising Star’ Strobe Returns For Godolphin appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post