Judging by his performances this term, reigning champion Sprinter Elite Power has no desire to relinquish his crown just yet. On his first start since his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) he romped by 3½ lengths in the Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia. Back in North America, Elite Power added a comfortable victory in the True North Handicap (G2), and on Saturday, the son of Curlin recorded his eighth straight win, getting up in dying strides to take the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1).
Despite his continued excellence, there’s no shortage of challengers aiming to dethrone Elite Power. Gunite —like his sire, Gun Runner , a tough individual who appears to be maintaining his progress at 4—was only a head behind Elite Power in the Vanderbilt, having been 3¼ lengths back when running second in Riyadh. On the West Coast, The Chosen Vron stepped out of the Cal-bred ranks to capture the Bing Crosby Handicap (G1) over Anarchist , the runner-up to Elite Power in the True North, and one day earlier, a potential threat from the younger ranks appeared in the shape of New York Thunder , who delivered a scintillating display in the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course.
The Amsterdam was only the fourth start of New York Thunder’s career, but he has shown extreme speed from the very beginning. His debut came in a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight last November. There, he scored by 8½ lengths, running five furlongs in :55.77, just 0.72 outside the track record for Gulfstream’s all-weather surface. He returned Dec. 30 to score by 1 3/4 lengths over five furlongs on Gulfstream’s turf course, this time in :55.46, off fractions of :21.28 and :43.74. Not seen in action again until April 30 this year, New York Thunder showed he had lost none of his speed during the layoff. Contesting the six-furlong Woodstock Stakes over Woodbine Racetrack‘s all-weather surface, he led throughout to tally by 7½ lengths in a quick 1:08.45.
The 6 1/2-furlong Amsterdam presented new challenges for New York Thunder: his first graded stakes attempt; his first race beyond six furlongs; and his first try on the dirt. Accordingly, he was dispatched as the fourth- longest shot in the five-horse field. None of those factors played much part, as New York Thunder rocketed into an early lead, shrugged off a challenge from Drew’s Gold (winner of four of five previous starts and runner-up in the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) on his most recent outing), and powered away to score by 7 1/2 lengths. New York Thunder set fractions of :21.48, :43.56, 1:07.77 (faster than the track mark for six furlongs), and despite being eased, finishing in 1:14.65, less than a second outside Quality Road ‘s track record.
New York Thunder is a member of the third crop sired by the Uncle Mo stallion Nyquist . Undefeated in his first eight starts, Nyquist earned the distinction of following Street Sense as only the second horse to capture both the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and Kentucky Derby (G1). His form tailed off after his Churchill Downs triumph with a third in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and unplaced efforts in the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G2), but he also won the Best Pal Stakes (G2), Del Mar Futurity (G1), and FrontRunner Stakes (G1) at 2, and the San Vicente Stakes (G2) and Florida Derby (G1) at 3.
Standing at Darley in Lexington, Nyquist made a tremendous start to his career with a first crop that included the champion 2-Year-Old Filly Vequist , successful in the Spinaway Stakes (G1) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and Gretzky The Great , who took the Summer Stakes (G1). There are six stakes winners in his second crop, including graded winners Slow Down Andy and Turnerloose , and New York Thunder is one of nine stakes winners to emerge from Nyquist’s third crop, the others including the Mazarine Stakes (G3) scorer, Renegade Rebel . He’s also already represented by Crimson Advocate , who captured the Queen Mary Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot, from his current 2-year-old crop.
New York Thunder is the first foal of his dam, Start Over, who is a daughter of Midshipman , like Nyquist a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner and 2-year-old champion. Start Over never ran, but her dam, the unraced Hard Spun mare Wipe Out, is half-sister to Emcee —by Midshipman’s sire, Unbridled’s Song—who took the Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga. Wipe Out is also half sister to the grade 2 winner Surfer, to stakes winner Spring Party (herself dam of graded stakes winner Marzo ) and to group-placed Baffled , the dam of three stakes winners, most notably Constitution , successful in the Florida Derby (G1) and Donn Handicap (G1), and now a leading sire.
The fourth dam, Horns Gray, was a minor stakes winner at Fonner Park but is dam of a top-class performer in Awesome Humor, who annexed four graded events, including the Spinaway Stakes (G1). Horns Gray’s granddam, Anjellico, was by Angle Light, who had the distinction of defeating Secretariat in the Wood Memorial (G1). Anjellico won the Carmi Stakes at the now defunct Cahokia Downs in Illinois, but became a very effective producer. She appears as the dam of three stakes winners, including All Fired Up, who took the Arlington-Washington Futurity (G1) and went on to a successful stud career in South Africa, and she is ancestress of more than 30 stakes winners, also including the Hopeful Stakes (G1) scorer Competitive Edge , and the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) hero Spun to Run (by Hard Spun, also sire of New York Thunder’s second dam). The female line has been in the United States for more than 140 years, going back to the arrival as yearling of the mare Clara from England in 1881. She most notably appears as fourth dam of another Saratoga speedster, Eternal, who took the Hopeful Stakes in 1909, and fifth dam of the 1928 Belmont Stakes winner, Vito.
New York Thunder is the first stakes winner for Nyquist out of an Unbridled’s Song or Unbridled line mare, but the cross of Uncle Mo and sons with mares from that line has produced eight other stakes winners, including the grade 1 winners Gulfport , A Mo Reay , Golden Pal (like New York Thunder out of a mare by Midshipman), Outwork , and Unbridled Mo .
