Xtra Heat

Xtra Heat served notice with a rousing victory Saturday in the Barbara Fritchie Handicap that she is still a star at 4. The final word on her 3-year-old season will be delivered tonight at the 31st Eclipse awards banquet in Miami Beach, Fla. The Laurel-based filly is a finalist for a coveted Eclipse statuette in two categories: 3-year-old filly and sprinter. A sprinter has never won the Eclipse for 3-year-old filly. The other finalists are Exogenous and Flute. The other finalists for sprinter are Squirtle Squirt, who defeated Xtra Heat in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, and Delaware Township, who defeated her in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash.

Extra weight and extra distance were no extra burden for Xtra Heat yesterday in the Grade II, $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap at Laurel Park . While carrying 128 pounds for the first time and running a distance over which she had been beaten twice in succession, the sensational filly romped to a 2 3/4 -length victory, her 19th in 24 career starts. It was an impressive step for the 4-year-old daughter of Dixieland Heat, who will make her next start in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen on the undercard of the Dubai World Cup, March 23. "I'd love to win in Dubai," said Kenneth Taylor, one of the filly's three owners.

The last time Xtra Heat appeared publicly at Laurel Park, she put her sweet face into a congratulatory basket of carrots and other goodies in the winner's circle on Xtra Heat Day. Fans joined in the celebration Dec. 22 as the Maryland Jockey Club honored the diminutive filly for outstanding achievement in 2001. As a 3-year-old last year, Xtra Heat won nine of 13 races. She never finished off the board, claiming second three times and third once. That stellar year, particularly her runner-up performance in the Breeders' Cup Sprint against males, earned Xtra Heat the rare distinction of being an Eclipse Award finalist in two categories: 3-year-old filly and sprinter.

A full field of 11, including sprinting sensation Xtra Heat, has been entered to start in Saturday's Grade II Barbara Fritchie Handicap, one of the headline events at Laurel Park's Winter SprintFest weekend. Xtra Heat, the 2001 Eclipse Award finalist in both the sprinter and 3-year-old filly divisions, will carry 128 pounds, 12 to 16 pounds more than the other 10 in the field. When the weights were announced on Sunday, John Salzman, her trainer and co-owner, considered not running the Laurel Park-based filly in her own back yard.

Xtra Heat heads the list of horses and people in Maryland racing announced yesterday as finalists for the 2001 Eclipse Awards, the coveted statuettes that denote "champions" of the sport. Laurel-based Xtra Heat was named a finalist in two categories: 3-year-old filly and sprinter. Other finalists with Maryland ties were Scott Lake (trainer), Ramon Dominguez (jockey) and Jeremy Rose (apprentice jockey). Finalists for Horse of the Year were Johannesburg, Point Given and Tiznow. Winners will be announced Feb. 18 at the 31st Eclipse Awards banquet in Miami Beach, Fla. Voting for the awards were racing writers, employees of the Daily Racing Form and representatives of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

Before we turn the page and begin searching for our Kentucky Derby and Preakness horses of 2002, we have some unfinished business: voting for the champions of 2001. Eclipse Award voting by turf writers and representatives of the Daily Racing Form and National Thoroughbred Racing Association ended Friday. Winners will be honored Feb. 18 at the 31st annual Eclipse Awards dinner in Hollywood, Fla. Here are my votes. Steeplechase: Quel Senor. The National Steeplechase Association ran seven unrestricted Grade I races in 2001, and each was won by a different horse.

The applause started just before the finish line as Xtra Heat, wearing her purple Breeders' Cup saddlecloth, walked calmly toward the finish line. Fans of the phenomenal 3-year-old filly stood three- and four-deep along the rail and around the winner's circle at Laurel Park yesterday as Maryland racing celebrated Xtra Heat Day. "She's a movie star," gushed John Salzman, her trainer and part owner. Purchased for $5,000 by Salzman and two partners, Xtra Heat has earned $1,274,150. She has won 17 of 22 races, and she's finished second three times.

The Maryland Jockey Club will honor the achievements of Xtra Heat, the Maryland-based sprinting sensation, after the fifth race at Laurel Park today. The 3-year-old filly - based at Laurel, trained by John Salzman and owned by Salzman, Kenny Taylor and Harry Deitchman - was a $5,000 purchase at the Timonium sales last year and is a winner of $1,274,150, including more than $1 million this year. After today's card, Maryland will have a three-day break from live racing for the Christmas holiday.

After Caller One dueled Xtra Heat into submission, Delaware Township charged from last to win the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash yesterday before 10,114 patrons at Laurel Park. Sixth in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the New York-based Delaware Township scored his biggest win in his final race. The 5-year-old will be retired to stud with 11 victories in 21 starts and earnings of $996,950. "We feel vindicated," said Ben Perkins Jr., trainer of Delaware Township. "We were so disappointed after the Breeders' Cup. We thought we had a real chance to win it."

A million-dollar international race doesn't usually serve as practice for a $300,000 stakes in Maryland. But following a script that is part wisdom and part luck, the Breeders' Cup Sprint three weeks ago at Belmont Park turned out to be a dress rehearsal for the Frank. J. De Francis Memorial Dash today at Laurel Park. In the Sprint, the astute California trainers Jim Chapman and Bruce Headley watched the little filly from Maryland, Xtra Heat, shoot into the lead and then, to their amazement, nearly hold on at the end. They learned their lessons.