Wesley Ward, known for his affinity for precocious juveniles, found a colt from the first crop of City of Light from an active family that filled him with confidence Sept. 19 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The trainer went to $460,000 to purchase the colt from the consignment of breeder Woodford Thoroughbreds, agent.
Out of the unraced Congrats mare Sudden Heat, the colt's second dam is grade 1 heroine Xtra Heat, by Dixieland Heat, the 2015 Hall of Fame inductee and 2001 champion 3-year-old filly who raced 35 times and won 26 of those outings, bankrolled $2,389,635 from her 2- to 5-year-old campaign for trainer John Salzman. The trainer purchased Xtra Heat from the 2000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in Training Sale for $5,000.
Xtra Heat not only proved her worth on the track; she produced 2007 Sonny Hine Stakes winner Southwestern Heat, who also finished second in that year's Hirsch Jacobs Stakes (G3), and 2009 Geyser Spring Stakes winner Elusive Heat.
Ward felt fortunate to get the colt.
"We have been going through today's horses, and he was at the top of the list; I feel the most confident with him," Ward said. "Being back here in a later book, I thought I would have had to pay a little dearer, but some of the people are headed out of town. I got a little bit of a value."
A son of Quality Road , the four-time, grade-1 winning millionaire, City of Light stamps his yearlings with class, Ward said.
"I think he's going to be a nice horse, I'm very impressed with the City of Light yearlings; they are beautiful horses, and they look like they have athleticism, but we will see when we get a little closer next year," Ward added.
When asked which client the colt was for, Ward chuckled and replied: "Not quite sure yet, I will be making some phone calls."
As the sale moves into the second week with Book 4, Ward plans to stick around and get a few more horses to take home.
"Kind of early on (in the sale) they were quite high. I haven't filled what I needed so as the days are coming on I think we will certainly see some better values," he said.
