Xigera shows she belongs on dirt with Mother Goose triumph

It’s likely dirt from now on for Xigera, who validated her victory in the Seneca Stakes at Churchill Downs in September with an authoritative 3 1/2-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Aqueduct.

Stalking the pacesetting Undervalued Asset from second under Julien Leparoux, Xigera moved to the lead approaching the quarter pole with the Grade 1 winner Defining Purpose, under Junior Alvarado, moving with her. Those two ran together briefly before Xigera began to pull away inside the three-sixteenths pole under just two taps of Leparoux’s left-handed whip.

Xigera ($4.10) completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.99 on a fast track.

“We always knew she was talented,” Leparoux told the New York Racing Association publicity department. “She’s very good on the turf, but on the dirt it looks like she’s much better.”

Defining Purpose finished second by three-quarters of a length over Occult. Julia Shining finished fourth, followed by Foggy Night, Undervalued Asset and Peak Popularity.

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Xigera, a daughter of Nyquist owned by Richard Rigney and trained by Phil Bauer, had spent the majority of the year racing on turf, winning an allowance at Churchill Downs in June and the Tepin Stakes at Ellis Park in July.

Xigera caught a boggy turf course in the Saratoga Oaks on Aug. 4 and finished a well-beaten sixth. It was after that race, and based on the way she had trained on dirt, that the decision was made to move Xigera to dirt, where on Sept. 23 she romped by 6 1/4 lengths in the Seneca Stakes.

“I think it was timing, just the hellacious circumstances at Saratoga made us hit the reset button, so we were starting over, glad we did,” Bauer told Maggie Wolfendale in a post-race interview.

After flirting with the idea of the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, owner Rigney and Bauer opted for the Mother Goose, seeking validation her Seneca win wasn’t a fluke, which it wasn’t.

“The hindsight is the easiest sight, so now that it’s done, it was the right decision,” Bauer told NYRA. “I’m overwhelmed. It’s a pretty cool race historically. This year, as a whole, has just been phenomenal for Richard and us, and to accomplish what we have is something special and we need to make sure we don’t take it for granted. It was the right decision and, hopefully, it will springboard her to a 4-year-old campaign that has been as impressive as her last two races.”

Bauer, who also trained the Grade 1-winning mare Played Hard for Rigney, mentioned the Grade 3, $400,000 Falls City Stakes on Nov. 23 as a potential next start for Xigera.

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