Now, that's how you celebrate a birthday.
Champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) came charging down the sealed, sloppy stretch at Saratoga to nail Gunite (Gun Runner) by a head in Saturday's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. on Hall of Famer Bill Mott's 70th birthday.
Racing over a wet surface for the first time, the even-money favorite was sixth though an opening quarter in :22.64. He was tipped out by Irad Ortiz, Jr. approaching the quarter pole and set his sights on the aforementioned slight second choice, who enjoyed first run and was beginning to get away. Elite Power was just getting started, however, and kept on motoring home to get there in dramatic fashion to win his eighth straight.
“It looked like Gunite certainly had the jump on him turning for home,” Mott said. “Great, great, great effort on this horse. He's a big, strong horse, heavy horse. He handled (the off track) well, but it doesn't have to be his best surface and I think it's great. There was that question beforehand. You just don't know. It's like trying a new distance for the first time. When you try a new track surface, you just don't know what's going to happen. But class came through.”
Elite Power's winning streak also includes last term's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland Nov. 5, the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia Feb. 25 and the GII True North S. at Belmont Park June 10.
“For him to put up a streak like this against top competition just really boils down to him being a really good horse,” Mott said. They don't do it by accident.”
Mott added that Elite Power would likely target the GI Forego S. at Saratoga Aug. 26.
Pedigree Notes:
Elite Power, a $900,000 KEESEP yearling purchase by Juddmonte, is one of 54 graded winners, 20 at the Grade I level, for the mighty Curlin.
Broodmare sire Vindication, the unbeaten winner of the 2002 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Arlington, is responsible for 12 graded winners, six at the top level.
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.
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).
“(The late) Prince Khalid was the one that wanted to win the Kentucky Derby,” Juddmonte's Garrett O'Rourke said. “We bought this guy by Curlin out of a mare that was second in the Kentucky Oaks. That was our dream. But this is a very, very good consolation prize. That was Prince Khalid's idea and dream at the time, but now we've moved on to his sons who are taking a tremendous interest and they're the ones carrying this forward. I'm thanking them for the point of view of Juddmonte and I think it's great for the whole legacy of Juddmonte that they're carrying it through.”
Quite the birthday present for trainer Bill Mott, as ELITE POWER (Curlin) runs down a formidable Gunite to win a thrilling edition of the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/99VS2Wtt6C
— TDN (@theTDN) July 29, 2023
Saturday, Saratoga
ALFRED G. VANDERBILT H.-GI, $350,000, Saratoga, 7-29, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.22, sy.
1–ELITE POWER, 126, h, 5, 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
($900,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Juddmonte; B-Alpha Delta Stables, LLC (KY); T-William I. Mott; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.. $192,500. Lifetime Record: Ch. Sprinter, 11-8-0-1, $2,635,711. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Gunite, 124, c, 4, Gun Runner–Simple Surprise, by Cowboy Cal. O/B-Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $70,000.
3–Dean Delivers, 120, g, 4, Cajun Breeze–Slick and True, by Yes It's True. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Stonehedge LLC (FL); T-Michael Yates. $42,000.
Margins: HD, 6 1/4, 5. Odds: 1.10, 1.20, 9.50.
Also Ran: Gun It, Synthesis, Awesome Aaron, Little Vic.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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