Elite Power

A rivalry in any sport makes it more exciting. People tune in to watch a pair of foes with a well-established history of beating one another give it another go. And so it was that Elite Power (Curlin), in his final start before retiring to stud next year, came home first in front of his long-time rival Gunite (Gun Runner) to defend his title in the GI Qatar Breeders' Cup Sprint. Last year's Eclipse Champion Male Sprinter, Elite Power kept his good form going into 2023 and defeated Gunite for...

ARCADIA, CA - Forty looks good on you, Breeders' Cup. With defending winners Caravel (Mizzen Mast) (Turf Sprint), Cody's Wish (Curlin) (Dirt Mile), Elite Power (Curlin) (Sprint) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) (F/M Sprint) all back to defend their titles, the two-day Championships--consisting of 14 races with purses and awards totaling more than $31 million--gets underway for a record 11th time at Santa Anita Friday. Sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s--welcome back to Southern California!--will be on the menu as the weekend kicks off with a 10-race, 'Future Stars Friday'...

ARCADIA, CA - The imposing Bill Mott-trained duo of Just F Y I (Justify) (Juvenile Fillies) and champion Elite Power (Curlin) (Sprint) immediately caught the eye as the curtain was lifted at Santa Anita with a spectacular sunrise beneath the San Gabriel mountains on Breeders' Cup eve. Japanese superstar Songline (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the Mile, began her marathon training session, while the horse to catch in the Dirt equivalent 'Rising Star' Zozos (Munnings) left the pony raring to go. John Gosden, represented by potential race...

ARCADIA, CA -- After firing a five-furlong warning shot at Santa Anita Monday morning, Zedan Racing's 'TDN Rising Star' Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo) was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite while drawing post 12 at the Rood & Riddle Post-Position Draw for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Classic. The Bob Baffert-trained GI Pacific Classic hero and $2.3-million OBS April breezer will face 12 rivals in the $6-million centerpiece, including fellow sophomore and the rail-drawn GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. hero Arcangelo (Arrogate), GI Whitney S. winner White Abarrio (Race...

Michael Lund Petersen's Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) tuned up for Saturday's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff with a four-furlong drill in :48.20 (22/69) Sunday at Santa Anita. The 4-year-old comes into the Distaff with a string of four straight stakes victories, including a 5 1/4-length score in the Oct. 1 GII Zenyatta S., but will have to step up her game to win Saturday, according to trainer Bob Baffert. "She'll be running against a different type of filly on Saturday," Baffert said. "She's a big, fast filly and she has a...

Led by MGISW Arcangelo (Arrogate), GISW Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), and MG1SW Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), 205 horses, including 59 from overseas, and four 2022 champions who return to defend their titles, have been pre-entered for the 40th Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 3-4 at Santa Anita Park. The Breeders' Cup will be televised live domestically on NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and FanDuel TV. Additionally, the NBC World Feed will be sent to more than 150 countries around the globe. Click here to view all of the 2023 Breeders'...

Champion Sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) will stand for an initial fee of $50,000, live foal, when he takes up stud duty at his owner's Juddmonte Farm in Kentucky after his final start in the Nov. 4 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita, the farm announced on Tuesday. In addition to capturing last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland, the $900,000 Keeneland September yearling earned the victory in this year's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. at Saratoga, the GII True North S. at Belmont Park and the G3 Riyadh Dirt...

Defending Eclipse Champion Elite Power (Curlin), winner of last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, will take up stud duty upon retirement after defending his title at Santa Anita next month, Juddmonte Farm said in a press release Friday morning. Bred by Alpha Delta Stables, the chestnut colt consigned by Lane's End was sold to Juddmonte for $900,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Out of MGSW Broadway's Alibi (Vindication), his dam was runner-up in the GI Kentucky Oaks. Sold as a broodmare for $2.15 million, she hails from the family...

Celebrating 40 Years of the Breeders' Cup with Living Legends There are great racehorses and there are great sires. One doesn't always equal the other. Sometimes, but not always, a horse is equally adept at both. "It's rare for world-class racehorse to become a world-class sire. It's two different resumes, two different achievements," said John Sikura, owner of Hill 'n' Dale. Rarely, ever so rarely, a top racehorse becomes a sire so good and so prolific in generating top-class horses that his own championship race record becomes almost an afterthought....

Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Gunite (Gun Runner), winner of the track-and-trip GI Hopeful S. as a juvenile and runner-up in the GI H. Allen Jerkens S. 12 months ago, parlayed a tactical advantage Saturday into a vengeful victory in Saratoga's GI Forego S. The Steve Asmussen pupil had come up a head short of 2022 champion sprinter Elite Power (Curlin) in the GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. going a furlong shorter in the slop here July 29, and was 6-5 to get the better of that formidable foe this go around....

It's a bit of Christmas in August Saturday at venerable Saratoga Race Course, which plays host to no fewer than five Grade I events for horses of all ages--on dirt and on turf--topped by the main event on the summer calendar, the $1.25-million GI Travers S. While the fields are short on numbers, they are long on quality, as three of the races have attracted reigning Eclipse Award winners, none of whom are anything close to a cinch in their respective heats. Champion and 'TDN Rising Star' Forte (Violence) has...

The late Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah has been posthumously inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame, and is just the second person to be recognised within the Special Contributor category. He follows in the footsteps of 2021 inductee Queen Elizabeth II. Chosen by an independent panel of experts, in recognition of his contribution to the sport, his achievements through the breeding and racing operation Juddmonte leave a lasting legacy. The Prince's induction will be officially marked through a special presentation at York Racecourse on Wednesday, Aug. 23,...