Churchill Downs: Xigera, Star Fortress win Thanksgiving stakes
Richard Rigney’s Xigera tracked pacesetter Jag Warrior early on, pounced to the lead at the top of the stretch and drew away down the stretch to easily win by a widening 6 1/2 lengths Thursday in the 108th running of the Grade 2, $400,000 Falls City Stakes, the traditional Thanksgiving Day fixture for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Phil Bauer and ridden by Julien Leparoux, Xigera ran 1 1/8 miles over a fast track in 1:50.75 while defeating long shots Music Street, who surged late for second, and Jag Warrior, who was another head back in third. Rigney and Bauer teamed to win last year’s Fall City with the now-retired Played Hard.
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“She’s a special type of horse, which makes our job easy,” Bauer said. “You hang a bridle on her, and she knows what she needs to do. I’m so fortunate to be in the position I am with a great stable and owner. At the time we thought grass was her preferred surface as a 2-year-old, but she’s proven us wrong. She has such a quick turn of foot, which makes her so dynamic.”
After convincing, back-to-back stakes wins in September’s $171,750 Seneca Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs and last month’s $250,000 Mother Goose (G2) at Belmont at the Big A, Xigera (1-9) was sent to post as the odds-on betting favorite in the field of seven fillies and mares.
Breaking from post 6, Xigera settled in the clear in third up the backstretch as Jag Warrior dictated the terms through fractions of 24.03, 49.02 and 1:13.38. With a three-wide move on the final turn, Xigera dragged Leparoux to the front and emerged as the leader with a quarter-mile to run. The only questions were who would run second and how wide the winning margin would be.
“We’ve always loved her since she was a 2-year-old,” Leparoux said. “May have made a mistake keeping her in the grass as long as we have, but she’s had a great year overall. She’s going to be even better next year. I think she’s a very exciting horse.”
Xigera paid $2.30, $2.20 and $2.10. Music Street, ridden by Gerardo Corrales at odds of 49-1, returned $11.56 and $9.76. Jag Warrior, at odds of 52-1 under Brian Hernandez Jr., paid $8.98 to show. Misty Veil, Shezz Koldazice, Skratch Kat, Bellamore and Distinctlypossible completed the order of finish. Hidden Connection was scratched.
With the win, Xigera improved her overall record to 10: 6-1-1. Thursday’s $240,455 first prize jumped her earnings to $817,056.
The La Troienne (G1), which will be run in May at Churchill Downs, could be Xigera’s next start after a freshening.
Xigera was bred in Kentucky by Cedar Hill. She is a 3-year-old daughter of Nyquist out of the Black Tie Affair mare Argent Affair.
Star Fortress wins by 10 on turf in Cardinal
Ireland-bred Star Fortress eventually dominated the 48th running of the $267,500 Cardinal (G3) with a 10-length, last-to-first romp over favored Saffron Moon.
Star Fortress, a 4-year-old filly owned by John D. Gunther and by Tanya Gunther’s Eurowest Bloodstock Services, ran 1 1/8 miles over the sparingly used, good-rated turf in 1:51:10 to collect the first stakes win of her career.
Luis Sáez rode the winner for trainer Cherie DeVaux.
Breaking from post 2 in the field of six fillies and mares, Star Fortress settled in last during the early stages as Walkathon set fractions of 23.35, 48.61 and 1:13.90. Full of run while leaving the final turn, Sáez tipped Star Fortress out to the center of the track, and the filly displayed an explosive late kick to collar Saffron Moon and a tiring Walkathon with an eighth of mile to the finish. Her winning margin only widened inside the final stages of the race.
“The plan worked out how we drew it up,” Sáez said. “We let the speed go and saved ground. Around the turn we swung out and just really exploded down the stretch.”
The triumph was worth $153,450 and increased her earnings to $175,775. Star Fortress boasts a record of 8: 2-1-2.
Star Fortress (6-1) returned $14.68, $5.40 and $3.48 as the fifth betting choice. Post-time favorite Saffron Moon (9-5), ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, paid $3.60 and $3. Third-place finisher Lovely Princess (4-1), under Hernandez, was another neck back in third and paid $3.30 to show. The order of finish was completed by Juncture, Walkathon and Joyful Applause. Take a Stand was scratched.
Before the Cardinal, Star Fortress finished third in a weight-for-age event over 1 1/2 miles on turf at Newmarket, England, in July. Her lone win in seven starts in England came in her second outing over Chelmsford City’s all-weather track at 1 1/4 miles in July 2022.
“She was training very well coming into this race, and she won very impressively today,” DeVaux said. “We’re not sure where we’ll go next with her. Our plan was to get her to this race and focused on that.”
Star Fortress, a gray-roan daughter of Sea The Stars out of the El Prado mare Lady Aquitaine, was bred by Sahara Group, Eurowest and Sunderland Holdings.