Elite Power fires sharp work ahead of Vanderbilt start
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The reigning champion sprinter Elite Power stepped up his preparation for the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap on July 29 with a strong five-furlong workout in 59.60 seconds on Friday morning over the Oklahoma training track.
Elite Power worked in company with Provocateur – a multiple listed stakes winner last year – starting several lengths behind that one and finishing slightly in front at the wire.
“I was looking for a 1:01, but they went a little quicker than that,” trainer Bill Mott said. “They’ve both done enough now, they should be ready.”
Elite Power will bring a seven-race winning streak into the Vanderbilt. Elite Power concluded last year with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. This year, he has won the Riyadh Dirt Sprint and the Grade 2 True North.
Provocateur, previously trained by Todd Pletcher, has not run since last fall. Mott said he will look for a race for that horse in the next condition book.
Also working Friday for Mott was the mare War Like Goddess, who went a half-mile in 49.04. She is pointing to the Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls here Aug. 3.
On Thursday’s opening-day card, Mott sent out the filly Sugar Hi to a six-length debut win. A daughter of Twirling Candy, Sugar Hi covered 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:05.14 and earned an 80 Beyer Speed Figure.
“She was very good, you couldn’t ask for much more,” Mott said. “She broke well, put herself in the race, and she drew away at the end.”
Mott said he would point her to the Grade 1 Spinaway on Sept. 3, where she will likely face Becky’s Joker, who won Thursday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Schuylerville Stakes earning a 75 Beyer.
The Wine Steward to Funny Cide
The Wine Steward, winner of the Bashford Manor Stakes at Ellis Park last out, will make his next start in the $200,000 Funny Cide Stakes on Aug. 27, trainer Mike Maker said.
The Funny Cide, restricted to New York-breds, and the Grade 2 Saratoga Special both have the same $200,000 purse, but the Funny Cide gives the horse two more weeks from the Bashford Manor.
“He doesn’t carry a whole lot of flesh, so we’re giving him more time,” Maker said. “Hopefully, we’ll be competitive in the Funny Cide and then we can move on to the Breeders’ Futurity or Champagne.”
The Wine Steward is the first stakes winner from the sire Vino Rosso.
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