WinStar Farm’s Classic winner Exaggerator, a three-time Grade 1 winner by Curlin, sired his first winner when Xtrema made an auspicious career debut on Thursday, June 11, proving much the best in a five-furlong maiden special weight at Golden Gate Fields.
Fittingly, Xtrema shares a host of the same connections as her Classic-winning sire Exaggerator. Trained and co-owned by Keith Desormeaux, along with Big Chief Racing, and Rocker O Ranch, Xtrema broke alertly and tracked the early pace from third. She inhaled the pacesetters in the lane and drove clear late to win with authority by a widening four lengths.
Bred in Kentucky by K.C. Garrett Farm, Xtrema, a Keeneland September graduate, is produced from the winning Seeking the Gold mare Gold N Eskimo who is out of the multiple Graded-stakes winning millionaire Silent Eskimo. Xtrema is a half-sister to stakes-placed Weavers Ice Cold and multiple winner Diesel Only.
“Exaggerator was a star on the track, and we are excited to see his first-crop 2-year-olds come out running,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar’s president, CEO, and racing manager. “We’ve been thrilled about them ever since they started breezing for the two-year-old sales.”
A three-time Grade 1 winner at three, Exaggerator turned in dominant performances to capture three of the biggest races for 3-year-olds in America in 2016. He won the $1,000,000 Santa Anita Derby (G1), the $1,500,000 Preakness Stakes (G1), and the $1,000,000 Haskell Invitational (G1). A close and fast-finishing runner-up to Nyquist in the Kentucky Derby (G1), he avenged the defeat two weeks later in the Preakness S.
In addition to his standout success at three, Exaggerator was also a well-traveled and accomplished juvenile, winning the 2015 Saratoga Special Stakes (G2) and the $1,000,000 Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (G3), and finishing second in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1). Exaggerator is out of the Vindication mare Dawn Raid, a stakes-placed 2-year-old herself and half-sister to Canadian champion Embur’s Song. Exaggerator retired to WinStar with earnings of $3,581,120.
For more information about Exaggerator, contact Sean Tugel, Liam O’Rourke, or Chris Knehr at (859) 873-1717.
