The Personal Ensign (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
SAR- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
August 23, 2024
It’s a big weekend at SAR, but all of the exciting racing is not going to be on Saturday. Friday will also give us a big Grade 1, as the $500.000 Personal Ensign takes place. This is a nine-furlong race on the main track for older females and has been won in the past by the likes of Darling Harbour, Mrs Bombastic, and Z Command, among others. This race used to allow three-year-olds into it, but after they began to dominate the race, they were no longer allowed to take part. Purses have been both higher and lower in the past. One thing that has never happened in the Personal Ensign is for a horse to win it two times. Starting Over, the 2023 winner for TwinTowersRacing, will be looking to change that this year but will be facing six foes that hope to keep that from happening. Here’s a look at the field:
1- Ignore Tucker (Fractious, ridden by F Prat)- Looking good coming into the race, with wins in her last two. They were a pair of Grade 2’s, with the first one being the Santa Margarita out west at SA, and then the Fleur de Lis Handicap a month later at CD. In each, she came from well off the pace to get the victory. There’s no reason to think that she is going to have a drop off in form here, and we’ll be sure never to rule her out if she is near the back again.
2- Childe Girl (Nakamura Stables, ridden by A A Gallardo)- While she has always been a good horse in overnights, Childe Girl has been hit and miss when entered into stakes, both of the graded and ungraded victory. Last fall, she scored her biggest win to date, the Grade 2 Mother Goose, but being unable to follow that up as kept her from consistently running against the best in the division. Showed little in the Grade 3 Trillium last month, but she’s the type of horse that can reverse that result instantly.
3- Alice Springs (London Racing, ridden by L Saez)- Showed her potential this spring with back-to-back wins after struggling in the mud in the Grade 3 Bayakoa. The first of those wins was an allowance, but after that she had a beauty of an effort in the Grade 2 Ruffian Handicap, winning the race while turning in a 100 SRF. Unfortunately, we have not seen that from her again. Now, she was fourth in the Phipps, which is solid, given the competition, but she failed to beat anyone last month in the Grade 3 Pitcher Stakes. She’s out of We Will See, and surely, we will do just that.
4- Present Tense (Mb Stables, ridden by M Franco)- No one has ever won the Personal Ensign two times, but we could be talking about Present Tense having that opportunity, and not Starting Over, as she was second to that one last year. So far as a five-year-old mare, she has been either first or second in all five her starts, with the wins coming in the Grade 2 Azeri and the Grade 3 Doubledogdare. As looks to finish one spot better this time around, everyone looks good about her in terms of works and form so expect her to be in the mix late.
5- American Sky (Iolaus Racing, ridden by L Dettori)- Speaking of horses that ran in the Personal Ensign last year, American Sky can also say that she was there. But while Present Tense is looking to be one position better, American Sky simply needs to redeem herself after an awful effort. That result was not indicative of the horse that she is and she quickly got hot after the race, rolling off a four-race winning streak that is highlighted by the Grade 3 Bayakoa. The streak is over, and she came to the Spa in June hoping to redeem herself but finished eighth…. again. Maybe she just doesn’t like it here. But last time she was eighth she then won four straight, and she won the Pitcher Stakes last month.
6- Wavy Girl (Saratoga Stud, ridden by J R Velazquez)- This filly made quite an impression late last year, winning both the Hirsch and the Cotillion, each Grade 1’s, setting herself up very nicely for the BC Distaff. Nearly won that as well, but settled for second, a neck behind Matamata. While she was not bad, by any means, at the start of the year, she was a little slow to get rolling but she may be turning that corner now. After all, her last two races are victories: the Grade 3 Belle Mahone at WO, and the Grade 2 Shuvee right here, where she beat Present Tense. She’s had two three-race winning streaks already. That can become three right here.
7- Starting Over (TwinTowersRacing, ridden by S X Bridgmohan)- Last year, Starting Over stalked the early pace in the mud before running her best in the stretch to go on and win by half a length over Present Tense. Later on that year, she would run in the BC Distaff and finished third. So far in 2024, she has continued to run very well with two wins and two third out of her five starts and is following a similar schedule at the Spa as she did last year. You may recall that she ran on the grass in the Diana in 2023, and won that but this time, could only run fifth. This time, she’ll have a fast track to run on.
Prediction: 6-4-1-7
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
