Elite Power the true star of True North

ELMONT, N.Y. – Elite Power, the reigning champion sprinter, seeks his seventh consecutive victory as the 4-5 morning-line favorite in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 True North Stakes for 4-year-olds and up traveling 6 1/2 furlongs at Belmont Park.

Trained by Bill Mott for Juddmonte, Elite Power burst onto the scene last fall with an authoritative 5 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 Vosburgh contested during the Belmont at Aqueduct meet.

Four weeks later, Elite Power nailed down championship honors by rallying from off the pace to conquer 10 others in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

Mott began Elite Power’s 5-year-old campaign on Feb. 25 in the Group 3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia, and the son of Curlin didn’t disappoint, handling the quality sprinter Gunite by 3 1/4 lengths.

Mott considered entering Elite Power in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap at a one-turn mile, but ultimately opted for the True North, citing the Metropolitan as a tough race for a horse that missed some training time due to quarantine issues as well as getting some rest at a farm after his foreign excursion.

Elite Power shows seven breezes leading up to the True North and has been based at Saratoga since mid-May. He looks to become Mott’s fourth True North winner after Diablo (1991), Lion Cavern (1993), and Richter Scale (1998).

Strobe beat Elite Power when capturing his career debut at Churchill Downs last year and brings three consecutive triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures into the True North. He recently finished second, beaten 2 1/4 lengths by razor-sharp Skelly, in the Grade 3 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on April 15 at Oaklawn.

“I honestly think he needed his last,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He hadn’t run since January, and he ran a good race being a little wide from an outside post. I really like how he’s coming into this one, the timing of it, and how he’s training.”

Strobe has excellent tactical speed and projects for a tracking trip while outside and in the clear under Florent Geroux.

New York-bred Today’s Flavor has won 5 of 6 starts since being shipped from Southern California and transferred to trainer George Weaver’s shed row. Fourth as the pacesetter in the Grade 1 Carter Handicap at seven furlongs two starts back, Today’s Flavor rebounded with a gate-to-wire triumph in Aqueduct’s Affirmed Success for statebreds over sloppy going April 30.

A 5-year-old gelding by Laoban, Today’s Flavor is expected to take the lead after breaking from the rail under Manny Franco.

Perhaps the most fascinating True North entrant is Fearless, who won the Grade 2 Brooklyn at 1 1/2 miles on last year’s Belmont Stakes undercard and will sprint for the first time since his career debut in 2019. Fearless last started Sept. 24 and finished seventh of eight as the odds-on favorite in Parx Racing’s Grade 3 Greenwood Cup at 12 furlongs.

“We were leaning more towards the Salvator Mile,” a Grade 3, $150,000 stakes at Monmouth on June 17, trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Mike Repole floated the idea of running on Belmont Day. He’s won sprinting before, he’s coming off the layoff. We felt that going 1 1/2 miles [in the Brooklyn Stakes] off the layoff was a little too much.”

Pletcher likes how Fearless is training but noted that “he needs a pace meltdown and for Elite Power not to be on his ‘A’ game.” Pletcher previously won the True North with Bribon (2010), Caixa Electronica (2012 for Repole), and Rock Fall (2015)

Synthesis earned a 104 Beyer when upsetting a third-level allowance on May 18 at Belmont. Claimed for $40,000 last summer at Los Alamitos, Synthesis is 0 for 8 in graded stakes attempts, but trainer David Jacobson went 18 for 45 with a $3.12 ROI in sprint races between April 13 and June 3.

The versatile Anarchist hit the board in his last six starts, is Grade 3-placed on turf and dirt, and recently nabbed the Grade 3 Jacques Cartier over Woodbine’s Tapeta surface. Trained by Doug O’Neill for Ilium Stables, Anarchist has raced close to the pace in his last couple of starts but might opt for midpack tactics Saturday.