Before the New York Racing Association runs the marquee event at Saratoga Race Course, there is a must-see event the day before the Travers Stakes (G1).
On Aug. 25, the ladies take center stage at the Spa and the $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) looks like it could be a doozy.
“I refuse to tell you if I could only go to one race which race I would go to,” owner Mike Repole said.
Repole co-owns Nest , a projected showstopper in the Personal Ensign as well as Forte , one of the headliners in the Travers.
Forget about the Travers for a day. Friday Aug. 25 is all about the distaff set.
The best older fillies in the land are coming to play in the 1 1/8-mile race.
“You’ve really got a crowd pleaser here,” said Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will be represented in the race by Secret Oath . “I respect all of them. Really, it would not surprise me to see any of them win.”
The lineup reads like a who’s who. Where to start?
How about Nest, who is owned by Repole along with Aaron Wellman’s Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Michael House.
The daughter of Curlin won the 2022 Eclipse Award as the best 3-year-old filly in the nation. All she has done this year is race once, but, oh, what a performance that was. Nest won the Shuvee Stakes (G2) by 2 1/2 lengths at Saratoga July 23.
If that doesn’t impress, chew on this: it was her first start since the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 5. If there was any rust on her bones, she didn’t show it because Nest cruised to the victory, beating the more than formidable Clairiere , who came into the race as the leader of the division. And to some, she still might hold that spot. Clairiere will return for this, one of the six entrants in the race.
“Nest is just pure class,” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said. “If they were all like her, it would be a much easier game.”
In 12 career starts, Nest has eight wins, two seconds and a third. The only time she missed the board was a fourth place finish in that Breeders’ Cup Distaff. At Saratoga, she is a perfect 3-for-3. Last year, she won the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and Alabama Stakes (G1) by a combined 16 1/2 lengths.
As far as the Personal Ensign distance, Nest is an ace at 1 1/8 miles. She has four wins in six tries at the route.
Pletcher, who usually toes the company line when talking about his horses, was just about gushing when talking about his star filly.
“You never take anything for granted, but the way she is training, I would expect a big effort from her,” Pletcher said. “She has been remarkably consistent. She’s just a very, very special filly. She’s a trainer’s dream, really.”
When asked if the trainer has anything to do with Nest’s success, Pletcher didn’t hesitate.
“It’s all her,” he said.
Nest will break from post five and will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., who has been with her for 11 of 12 starts.
“I think we are going to see something really special on Friday,” Repole said.
The 5-year-old mare Clairiere, also by Curlin, hasn’t had to take a backseat to anyone for most of her career. Incredibly consistent, Clairiere has won eight of 20 career starts—four of them grade 1s—and put over $3 million in the bank.
She is trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen and owned by Stonestreet Stables. The last time Clairiere failed to hit the board was in last year’s Personal Ensign when she was fractious in the gate and never fired.
“Obviously, Nest is a very tall order,” Asmussen said. “We’ll see how we do, but we couldn’t be happier going in.”
Clairiere and jockey Joel Rosario have had some spectacular finishes, winning the Apple Blossom Stakes (G1) at Oaklawn Park by a neck and the Ogden Phipps (G1) at Belmont Park by a half length.
Earlier this year, Clairere and Briland Farm’s Secret Oath began a rivalry that had plenty of gas early. Secret Oath beat Clairiere by 2 3/4 lengths in the Azeri Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn and then came the Apple Blossom where Secret Oath had the tough beat in second.
Secret Oath, by Arrogate, lost the La Troienne (G1) at Churchill Downs by a neck to Played Hard May 5 and then faded to fifth in the Ogden Phipps.
“She has had 10 weeks,” Lukas said. “I am hoping that she will wake up. She is doing everything right and is working lights out.”
Lukas, though, would have likely rather have run Secret Oath, last year’s winner of the Kentucky Oaks (G1), in the Shuvee.
“I would rather run them than work them,” he said. “My theory is if they are real sound, it’s better to run them than to put four works into them.”
Secret Oath will start from post three and will be reunited with jockey Luis Saez, who has ridden Secret Oath six times.
Trainer Brad Cox will jump into the heated Personal Ensign with Juddmonte’s 4-year-old Idiomatic, who will be making her first grade 1 start.
Another daughter of Curlin, she has won six of nine career starts— five of six this year—and is coming off a win in the Delaware Handicap (G2).
She has picked up back-to-back triple digit Beyer Speed figures in her last two starts, the only runner in here to do so.
“This is a big step up,” Cox said. “She has to step up.”
In the Delaware Handicap, Idiomatic overcame a stumble at the start to win the race by a head. She will be ridden by Florent Geroux.
“If you have not watched her last race, you probably need to watch it,” Cox said. “She overcame a good bit and really stumbled at the start. She has to get a good trip (in the Personal Ensign). She won’t be able to stumble and overcome it against a group like this. I think she belongs, she deserves the opportunity.”
Rounding out the field are Myracehorse and Spendthrift Farm Sixtythreecaliber , trained by Tom Amoss and to be ridden by Kendrick Carmouche and Coffepot Stables’ Malloy , trained by Wayne Catalano and to be ridden by Dylan Davis.
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