Elite Status to Join Sire Havana Grey at Whitsbury Manor Stud in 2026

[Wandering Eyes]

Elite Status, a Group-winning sprinter at two and three, has been retired from racing and will stand alongside his sire, Havana Grey, at Whitsbury Manor Stud next year. A stud fee will be announced at a later date.

Trained by Karl Burke for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, Elite Status arrived at Royal Ascot unbeaten as a two-year-old following impressive victories in a maiden at Doncaster and the Listed National Stakes at Sandown. Though meeting with defeat when attempting to extend his winning sequence in the G2 Norfolk Stakes, ultimately finishing third behind Valiant Force, he soon opened his account in Group company with a dominant triumph in the G3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville.

As a three-year-old Elite Status again kicked off his campaign in the best possible fashion, registering back-to-back wins at Newbury in the Listed Carnarvon Stakes and G3 Hackwood Stakes. On the last occasion he lowered the six-furlong course record at the Berkshire venue, winning by half a length from a trio of top-level performers in Lake Forest, Kind Of Blue and Regional.

Last seen finishing seventh behind Rage Of Bamby in the latest edition of the Hackwood, Elite Status now joins the stallion ranks at Whitsbury Manor in something of a homecoming, having been born there to the three-time winner Dotted Swiss, a daughter of another former Whitsbury Manor resident in Swiss Spirit.

Ed Harper, director of Whitsbury Manor Stud, said, “We have loved everything about Elite Status since the day he was born. He knocked our eyes out as a foal at home and it's fantastic we now get to support him with our mares that have already bred top runners by Havana Grey. He's not only a stunning-looking horse, but he was rated 4lbs higher than his sire and 6lbs higher than his grand sire [on Racing Post ratings], so he's the full package.”

Elite Status first sold for 56,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, before being purchased by Karl and Kelly Burke for 325,000gns when returning to Park Paddocks for Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale.

The first foal out of Dotted Swiss, he was followed by Victorious Racing's Listed Ripon Champion Two Yrs Old Trophy Stakes hero Soldier's Heart (Havana Grey). Their second dam, Luxuria (Kheleyf), is a half-sister to another winner of Sandown's National Stakes in Sweepstake (Acclamation), the dam of the Group 1 winners Broome (Australia) and Diego Velazquez (Frankel), as well as the multiple Group scorer Point Lonsdale (Australia).

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