HOT SPRINGS — Not many horses with a Minnesota birth certificate find success in Hot Springs.
Then again, when dealing with Mac Robertson, it’s important to know that he often has the fastest young horses at Canterbury Park each summer and fall. After an apprenticeship at Shakopee, Minn., it’s time to test deeper waters one is sure to find at Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort.
A quiet meeting for Robertson picked up steam Saturday when Xtreme Diva held off Blue Squall in a tight finish in the $100,000 Dixie Belle Stakes at Oaklawn. It was Robertson’s third winner in the sprint race for 3-year-old fillies. For broodmare prospects, the Dixie Belle trumps Xtreme Diva’s September victory in the Northern Lights Debutante, another $100,000 race at Canterbury Park.
For owners Mike and Vicki McGowan, Xtreme Diva (by Stay Thirsty) long ago recouped the $35,000 the couple spent for Coal Front’s March foal at a Minnesota yearling sale. Now 4 for 6 with earnings of $255,642, Xtreme Diva joined the list of two-time winners at the meeting, giving jockey Eduardo Gallardo his first Oaklawn stakes win.
He had the mount also in the Canterbury stakes win and the Feb. 2 Oaklawn prep for the 46th Dixie Belle. With Chel-C Bailey up, Xtreme Diva squandered a stretch lead Dec. 17 at Oaklawn.
Kentucky-bred Xtreme Smoke Show collected $9,000 for the McGowans by running fourth under Francisco Arrieta. Frosted’s daughter, a $55,000 yearling buy at Keeneland, won her debut at Canterbury and placed fifth both in a Keeneland stake and Oaklawn’s Mockingbird on Jan. 13.
Her stamina was tested again in the Dixie Belle, which after scratches left five fillies going six furlongs. Xtreme Diva and Blue Squall, a Jan. 26 meet winner for trainer Randy Morse, advanced almost in unison from outside on the turn. Sharp Tune, a rare stakes also-ran at the meeting for Steve Asmussen, had nothing left and finished last despite going a sensible 46.41 in the opening half-mile for Keith Asmussen, the trainer’s son, both coming off four Oaklawn wins Friday.
With rider Emmanuel Esquivel and Blue Squall to his left, Gallardo kept the other filly at bay down the stretch.
“I broke and remained patient,” Gallardo said. “At the three-eighths pole, I took her out a little bit. In the stretch, she ran well.”
“She ran hard,” Robertson said. “I was glad the horse she was going with [Blue Squall] didn’t switch leads. We got kind of a lucky bob. The way the meet’s going, we’ll take it. I was worried when we went in :46 and 2/5 (opening half-mile time). She was fourth and parked out wide. But she got there. That’s what’s important.”
Xtreme Diva stopped the clock in 1:10.78 and, as the 2-1 favorite, paid $6.60, $3.60 and $2.40 before an estimated 31,000 fans watching on a sunny but chilly afternoon.
Dixie Belle entrant Ghalia Princess finished second for trainer Brad Cox in the $100,000 Ruthless Stakes going seven furlongs at Aqueduct in New York. Also scratched from the Oaklawn race were Pinotslilgirl and meet winner Happy N Smiling.
Scott Pierce bred the Dixie Belle winner, whose sire (trained by Todd Pletcher) stands at Spendthrift Farm for $5,000. Silly Little Mama, Xtreme Diva’s dam, won stakes at Turf Paradise in Arizona and since-shuttered Hollywood Park in California. She went 5 for 12 with eight top-three finishes and earned $149,823.
For Robertson in the Dixie Belle, Xtreme Diva followed winners Amy’s Challenge in 2018 and Ring Leader in 2020, both owned by Novogratz Racing Stable and bred in Kentucky. The McGowans’ Xtreme Racing Stable won Oaklawn’s Gazebo in 2921 with Robertson-trained colt Sir Wellington, that day ridden by the late Alex Canchari.
