Confident Elite Power becomes 3rd repeat winner of BC Sprint
Elite Power lived up to his name once again in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint, rallying confidently to win the race for the second year in a row.
Speed Boat Beach (3-1) broke sharply and briefly led, though Nakatomi (25-1) hustled up the inside and soon assumed the pace, setting an opening quarter of 21.99 with Speed Boat Beach prompting outside. Into the turn, Speed Boat Beach edged to the lead, with Gunite (3-1) tracking outside of him to take up the prompting role. Meanwhile, Elite Power (8-5) was improving from midfield. As Speed Boat Beach hit the half in 44.35, Elite Power improved three wide.
Into upper stretch, Speed Boat Beach maintained a short lead over Gunite. However, near the furlong pole, Irad Ortiz Jr. asked Elite Power for his best. He answered the call, taking the lead near the sixteenth and clearing off to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
Gunite chased on best of the rest, holding by 1/2 length for place over a re-rallying Nakatomi. The flattening Speed Boat Beach was a clear fourth, a length behind Nakatomi. The Chosen Vron, another 2 1/4 lengths back, completed the high five.
Elite Power stopped the clock in 1:08.34 for six furlongs over fast dirt. He paid his backers $5.40, $3.60 and $2.80. The $2 exacta over Gunite paid $16. Eight horses ran after the veterinary scratch of American Theorem.
A 5-year-old son of Curlin out of the Vindication mare Broadway's Alibi, Elite Power became the third horse in history to win two editions of the Breeders' Cup Sprint. Midnight Lute won in 2007 and 2008. Roy H won in 2017 and 2018.
Elite Power is trained by Bill Mott, who won three Breeders' Cup races in 2023. In addition to the Sprint, he also won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with Just F Y I and the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile with Cody's Wish. Jockey Irad Ortiz also won three Breeders' Cup races, taking the Filly & Mare Sprint with Goodnight Olive and the Classic with White Abarrio. Owner Juddmonte won the Distaff with Idiomatic.
After the race, Garrett O'Rourke confirmed that Elite Power will be retired to stud after his Breeders' Cup Sprint win. Elite Power finishes his career with a 13: 9-1-1 career record and $3,774,711 in earnings.
"It's a difficult job to keep a horse going year after year," Mott said after the race. "To come back and win two Breeders' Cups in a row says a lot about the durability of the horse and the luck that I have. We were lucky enough to have him and he's had a great career. He's off to his new career which will be in the stud barn and we wish him all the best.
"Irad (Ortiz Jr.) warmed him up good and he said he wanted to be close to the pace without using him too hard. He recognized all day that the only horse to come from behind was Cody's Wish and he is observant enough to see that. The rivalry with Gunite was there and he certainly showed up. I thought he was the one we had to beat."