El Potente thriving at age 6
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ARCADIA, Calif. – El Potente had a good year as a 4-year-old in 2023, winning three races before being given a nearly 10-month layoff that ended last June. El Potente won his comeback, foreshadowing his recent performances.
On Saturday, El Potente won his graded stakes debut in his 14th start in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita. Trainer Dan Blacker credits two elements for the improvement.
“It’s been patience and the synthetic track,” he said.
Santa Anita installed a synthetic training track in its infield in the winter of 2023-24. El Potente first worked on the surface last April.
“Some horses train well on it,” Blacker said. “It helped, and he’s a rare horse peaking as a 6-year-old.”
Owned by Mike Way, El Potente has won six times, including a two-length victory in an allowance race at a mile on turf on Jan. 4. In the $102,000 Thunder Road Stakes, El Potente was always near the front under jockey Hector Berrios and took the lead in early stretch. El Potente won by three lengths, finishing in 1:32.39 and earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 104.
Blacker said the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile, a $300,000 turf race on March 1, is a likely late winter target for El Potente.
“He has to run against the big horses,” Blacker said. “I think it’s a possible thought.”
Blacker also trains Straight No Chaser, the champion sprinter of 2024 who won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar in his last start on Nov. 1. Straight No Chaser is scheduled to make his 2025 debut in Saudi Arabia’s Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on Feb. 22.
On Sunday at Santa Anita, the 6-year-old worked five furlongs in a quick 59.20 seconds, the fastest of 72 recorded works at the distance. Straight No Chaser is scheduled to have one more workout at Santa Anita before he’s flown to Saudi Arabia. The $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint is run at six furlongs.
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