Zipse: Streaking and versatile, Xigera has eyes on the Falls City

In this age of early retirement and short careers of our best, it’s nice to see a horse who runs races regularly and can bring their best no matter the surface. Horses like the great Wise Dan seem to be one in a million in modern racing.

Although Xigera cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the 2012 and 2013 horse of the year, she quickly is becoming a very easy filly to root for. A winner in four of her five races this year, the daughter of Nyquist will look for more when she takes on older females in the Grade 3 Falls City on Thanksgiving day at Churchill Downs.

Proven on grass and dirt, Xigera was one to watch last year as a 2-year-old. After a solid debut performance, where she finished second on the turf at Saratoga, the Phil Bauer-trained dark bay announced herself a runner with a 5 3/4-length romp, also on the grass at Saratoga.

From there, it’s been almost all stakes races for the Richard Rigney-owned filly. A $190,000 yearling purchase in 2021, she switched from the turf to dirt for her third career start and ran a very good race in the Alcibiades (G1) at Keeneland. She crossed the wire fourth in the 14-horse field but was moved up to third after a rough stretch run.

Moved back to the turf, Xigera never fired in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) in her fourth and final start of her 2-year-old season. After the poor performance, her connections decided to give the talented filly a break.

Running on the grass for the fourth time in five starts, Xigera returned to the races in late spring and looked great while toying with her allowance competition at Churchill Downs.

Four weeks after that, she earned her first career stakes victory by gamely defeating the graded-stakes winner Heavenly Sunday in the Tepin Stakes on the turf at Ellis Park.

Bauer then sent her back to upstate New York for the $400,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3), where she found a very soft turf course. The 1 3/16-mile distance and the course condition proved a bit much for her in her third start as a 3-year-old, and she faded to finish sixth of 10.

Remembering how well she performed in her only career dirt start nearly a year before, Bauer made the move to get Xigera back on the dirt. The move has proven fruitful.

Taking on a field of seven, which included Black-Eyed Susan (G2) winner Taxed, Xigera absolutely cruised while scoring a 6 1/4-length romp in the Seneca Overnight Stakes at her home base of Churchill Downs. Geared down at the finish, it was clear that Xigera was no longer a turf specialist.

Her connections strongly considered going straight from the impressive stakes victory to take on the best in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita but instead decided to find an easier path for Xigera.

Easier, but not easy, they chose the prestigious Mother Goose (G2) in New York. Run at Aqueduct while Belmont Park is being renovated, Xigera found a strong field that included graded-stakes fillies Defining Purpose, Occult, Julia Shining and Foggy Night.

As it turned out, those good fillies never stood a chance. Stalking the early pace under regular rider Julien Leparoux, Xigera moved in unison with Defining Purpose spinning out of the turn. It briefly looked like the Grade 1 winner might have the jump on her, but that thought would not last long.

Turning it on when straightened out for the stretch drive, she easily pulled away from her rival and the rallying Occult for another very impressive win. The final time of 1:48.99 for the nine furlongs and final margin of better than three lengths confirm Xigera as a classy filly.

With plans to bring her back next year as a 4-year-old, Xigera will get in one more race as a sophomore when she takes on older stakes mares for the first time in the Falls City. The dirt feature generally attracts a strong field as part of a big weekend of holiday racing at the Louisville oval.

Bauer and Rigney won the historic stakes race together last year with the nice mare Played Hard. That one went on to become a Grade 1 winner this year in the La Troienne at Churchill Downs. In Xigera, it appears the duo has another very good one.

A solid stakes winner on the turf, Xigera clearly has found dirt racing to be very much to her liking as well. Although Pretty Mischievous and Randomized have proved themselves at the top of the 3-year-old filly division, it’s hard not to be excited about the current and the future of this daughter of Nyquist.