2022 Eclipse Awards: Elite Power
It was a fairy tale season of racing for Elite Power.
He rose from maiden winner in June to Qatar Racing Breeders’ Cup Sprint hero in November and for the run of success is a finalist for the Eclipse Award as champion male sprinter of 2022.
Elite Power went 5 for 6 in 2022 for earnings of $1.3 million. The bulk of his bankroll was earned Nov. 5 at Keeneland, when he barrelled down the center of the track for a 1 1/4-length victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
“He came with a good run,” winning trainer Bill Mott said.
The performance put an exclamation point on a streak of five straight wins for Elite Power. The victories came by a combined margin of 22 3/4 lengths and included the Grade 2 Vosburgh in his stakes debut in October at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet. Elite Power’s more than five-length triumph in the race earned him a Win and You’re In berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.
:: Full list of 2022 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
Irad Ortiz Jr., who is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding jockey of 2022, rode Elite Power in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for Juddmonte.
Elite Power was Mott’s second Breeders’ Cup winner on Nov. 5, following Cody’s Wish in the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. Elite Power won the six-furlong Sprint in a time of 1:09.11. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100 for what was the eighth start of his career. Elite Power began racing in the second half of his 3-year-old season, in September 2021.
“He’s got a profile very similar to [Cody’s Wish], who won earlier, not that you can compare the two,” Mott said following the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. “They were both late developing, but not without talent, and both have come around very well this year. I think he had baby issues. We didn’t get him until his 3-year-old year. And it was just a matter of waiting for him to get right.
“We brought him back this year, and he’s been sound as a bell of brass. And it’s been very rewarding to have him put in a string of races. He’s been very good at a variety of distances, and, of course, ending up the season with the Breeders’ Cup.”
Elite Power, who won races from six furlongs up to a mile, is a son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. His dam, Broadway’s Alibi, is by Vindication. She was a Grade 2 winner on the track and earned more than $500,000.
Elite Power was bred in Kentucky by Alpha Delta Stables. Juddmonte Farms purchased the horse in 2019 as a yearling for $900,000 at the Keeneland September sale. Elite Power has gone on to compile a career record of five wins from eight starts for earnings of more than $1.4 million.
And soon, he could add a priceless title – champion.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.