Xigera leads field of 9 in Falls City on Thanksgiving day
Grade 2 winner Xigera will attempt to close out her successful 3-year-old season with a victory when she faces eight older fillies and mares who were entered in the 108th running of the Grade 3, $400,000 Falls City on Thanksgiving day at Churchill Downs.
Run at 1 1/8 miles, the Falls City was carded as Race 11 of 12 with a post time of 4:22 p.m. EST.
Xigera, pronounced "KEE-jera," will be in search of her sixth career victory in Thursday’s Falls City. Owned by Rigney Racing and trained by Phil Bauer, the daughter of Nyquist began her career on turf. After breaking her maiden on the grass in late August of her 2-year-old season, Bauer opted to run Xigera on dirt in the Alcibiades (G1) where she crossed the wire fourth but was elevated to third after bumping with Raging Sea in deep stretch. Xigera closed her 2-year-old campaign with a disappointing 14th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
After that race, Xigera didn’t make her return until June, but she fired fresh off her layoff and defeated 10 rivals by 3 1/2 lengths at Churchill Downs in a first-level allowance event on turf. One month later, Xigera defeated seven fillies in the Tepin Stakes at one mile over the Ellis Park turf course.
After her sixth-place finish over the listed “soft” turf in the Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3), Bauer returned Xigera to dirt in the Seneca Overnight Stakes where she easily defeated six rivals by 6 1/4 lengths. One month later, Xigera won her first graded stakes in the Mother Goose (G2) at Aqueduct. Jockey Julien Leparoux will be in the irons for the Falls City from post No. 8.
Another accomplished filly who was entered in the Falls City is Grade 3 winner Hidden Connection. Trained by Bret Calhoun, Hidden Connection originally was entered in Saturday’s one-mile Chilukki Stakes (G3) but will opt for the Falls City around two turns. In her last start, Hidden Connection finished a game second behind Search Results in the Locust Grove (G3). Jockey Flavien Prat has the call and will break from post 8.