ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Of the nearly 100 horses entered today for Saturday’s eight Breeders’ Cup races at Arlington Park, only one is already a sure thing for the Hall of Fame.
Her name, which fits like a bodystocking, is Xtra Heat, a remarkable 4-year-old filly who’ll take on 12 high-octane rivals in the six-furlong Sprint. Although not much bigger than a pony, the daughter of Dixieland Heat boasts the speed, durability, toughness and heart seldom seen in any thoroughbred – a potent combination that’s propelled her to victory in 24 of 31 starts, all but the first in a stakes.
One of her rare defeats came in last year’s Sprint at Belmont Park when she led to the final jumps and held for second, beaten a half-length at 17-1. She’s raced at 14 different racetracks, and only once – when Xtra Heat tried to stretch her speed a distance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies two years ago – did she finish worse than third.
“We’ve had a lot of fun with her,” Maryland-based trainer and part-owner John Salzman, 57, said yesterday morning while grazing Xtra Heat on the Arlington backstretch. “She’s an amazing filly, win, lose or draw.”
Almost as amazing as her otherworldly record is the fact Xtra Heat, who’s earned $2.2 million, cost just $5,000 as a 2-year-old before her first race.
“A whole lot of people would like to back up to that point,” Salzman said. “I didn’t have her long before I figured out she could run. Not that I’d known she’d be this good, because I ran her first out in a $25,000 maiden claimer. You’ve got to start somewhere.
“But I was smart enough to bet her the first time she ran. The second time, too, when she paid $34.”
Xtra Heat won her first six starts at 2. After the hiccup in the Juvenile Fillies, she rattled off another six straight. Only once has she lost two in a row: last year’s Sprint, followed by a third in the DeFrancis Dash, also against colts.
“She’s a true champion, the real deal,” said jockey Harry Vega, who’s ridden Xtra Heat in her last 10 starts, including a three-length score against the boys last out in the Phoenix Handicap. She’ll be his first-ever Breeders’ Cup mount. “When she has to run hard, she does, and when she has to give 150 percent extra, she does.
“She never fails. She just gets better and better, and doesn’t back down from anything. It’s an honor to ride her.”
Last March, Xtra Heat flew to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen Stakes on the World Cup undercard, finishing third. The trek to Dubai has taken its toll on many top American runners, but not this mighty mite, who’s 5-for-6 since.
“I heard that trip knocked horses out, so I was going to turn her out for 60 days,” Salzman said. “I took her to the farm, and she spent the next two weeks running the fence. She was losing weight. She was not happy down there.
“So I brought her back to the track, and in her next start she aired.
“The best thing she’s got going for her is her disposition. She’s so quiet, people ask me if she’s OK. She saves every ounce of energy for when they ring that bell.”
A week after the Breeders’ Cup, Xtra Heat will go up for sale at the Fasig-Tipton auction in Kentucky. Her reserve price was reported to be $2.4 million.