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Multiple G1-winner Idiomatic returns for G1 Personal Ensign title defense

by Keith McCalmont

Juddmonte’s Kentucky homebred Idiomatic, the reigning Champion Older Dirt Female, will look to defend her title in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the 5-year-old Curlin bay arrives at the nine-furlong test for older fillies and mares from a hard-fought head score over returning rival Soul of an Angel in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Molly Pitcher on July 20 at Monmouth Park.

There, she bobbled at the break under returning pilot Florent Geroux before marking an easy opening quarter-mile in 25.57 seconds and a half-mile in 50.27 over the fast main track. Soul of an Angel, who also bobbled at the start under Irad Ortiz, Jr., made a strong move entering the final turn and put a head in front through three-quarters in 1:13.91 to set up a furious stretch battle.

Cox said the moderate tempo may have hindered his filly.

“I was happy to see her break and get involved early. She was on the lead,” Cox said. “From the three-eighths pole home, she had to dig in to fend off a really good filly. She got something out of it.”

Idiomatic won 8-of-9 starts last year en route to Eclipse Award-honors, including Grade 1 scores in the Personal Ensign – by four lengths over the previous year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks-winner Secret Oath, who was a neck better than 2022 Champion 3 Year-Old Filly Nest; a 4 1/4-length coup in the Spinster at Keeneland; and a half-length score over returning rival Randomized, who set the pace in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita Park.

Cox said Idiomatic is often at her best when tracking a target.

“She's very talented,” Cox said. “She's able to get into a race and use her big stride and set a solid enough pace to run them off their feet going into the far turn. She doesn't necessarily have to be on the lead. She tracked Randomized in the Breeders' Cup last year; we'll see if we can get a good trip on Friday.”

Idiomatic has won 2-of-3 starts this year, taking the Grade 1 La Troienne in May at Churchill Downs before a head defeat to Randomized in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford on June 8 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga.

Idiomatic is out of the multiple graded stakes-placed First Defence mare Lockdown, who is a full-sister to 2014 Champion Older Mare Close Hatches, the dam of Grade 1 DraftKings Travers contender Batten Down as well as multiple graded stakes-winners Tacitus and Scylla. Close Hatches won the 2014 Grade 1 Personal Ensign in her Championship season.

Idiomatic has banked in excess of $3.4 million through a 15-11-2-2 record and will exit post 4 carrying 124 pounds.

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. will send out Soul of an Angel [post 2, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 120 pounds] as she looks to avenge her narrow defeat.

“She ran huge last time against a Champion,” Joseph, Jr. said. “Now, we go an extra sixteenth - we still don't know if that's what she wants or not, but we'll give it a shot again. If she can run similar to last time, I think she'll have a big chance. It's a stellar group.”

Joseph, Jr. said he appreciated the aggressive Molly Pitcher ride from returning jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr.

“The race backed up and they were going slow. That wasn't what we planned to do but at the time it was the right move - put the pressure on Idiomatic and try to catch her off guard,” Joseph, Jr. said. “It was a great stretch battle. We came out on the losing end, but it didn't feel like we lost - it was just a great horse race. We took an opportunity and I'm proud of our horse.”

C Two Racing Stable and Agave Racing Stable’s Soul of an Angel, a 5-year-old Atreides dark bay, was purchased privately earlier this year and promptly won the Grade 2 Ruffian at odds of 24-1 over Randomized traveling a one-turn mile on May 4 at Belmont at the Big A.

She was off slow in the Ogden Phipps en route to a non-threatening fifth before rebounding in the Molly Pitcher with a game effort.

Bred in Kentucky by Westbrook Stables, Soul of an Angel was a $3,000 RNA at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale and is out of the The Factor mare Factor One, a half-sister to Grade 1-winner Homeboykris. She has banked $492,675 through a 38-4-7-4 record.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will be represented by a pair of contenders in Randomized [post 5, Joel Rosario, 124 pounds] and Raging Sea [post 3, Flavien Prat, 120 pounds] as he looks to secure his first Personal Ensign win.

Klaravich Stables’ Randomized, a 4-year-old Nyquist bay, has won 3-of-4 starts at Saratoga led by wins in the restricted Wilton last July ahead of a breakthrough score in the Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales one month later.

She added the Grade 2 Beldame to her ledger in October at Belmont at the Big A ahead of her pacesetting second to Idiomatic in the aforementioned Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Randomized was a non-threatening second in the Ruffian in May but was stubborn on the lead last out in the Ogden Phipps when turning back Idiomatic.

“She’s not a very big horse, but she’s fast and she likes to go to the lead and carry her speed,” Brown said. “The Alabama is a really special race to win, and she’s come back and carried her form into age four winning the Phipps. A really special horse for us, and she’s got a lot of heart.”

A $420,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Randomized is out of the unraced Elusive Quality mare French Passport, a half-sister to the Brown-trained multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Smooth Air, graded stakes-winner Overdriven and the nine-time winning mare Super Phoebe, who produced multiple Grade 1-winner Got Stormy and graded stakes-placed Sir Alfred James.

Alpha Delta Stables’ Kentucky homebred Raging Sea is a three-time graded stakes-winner after taking the nine-furlong Grade 3 Comely in November at the Big A, the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Doubledogdare in April in her seasonal debut at Keeneland and the nine-furlong Grade 2 Shuvee last out on July 21 here.

“She’s going to have to step up. She’s been knocking on the door, and she just hasn’t won a Grade 1 yet,” Brown said. “This is a really tough race against proven, Grade 1-winning mares, so she’s going to have to step up and break through. But, she likes Saratoga and she’s coming off her career-best race, so there’s a chance she could do it.”

Raging Sea is a half-sister to the multiple stakes-placed Welcoming with her third dam being the multiple graded stakes-winning Reine-de-Course mare Weekend Surprise, who produced Hall of Famer and breed-shaping stallion A.P. Indy.

Rigney Racing’s Xigera [post 1, Tyler Gaffalione, 118 pounds], a 4-year-old Nyquist dark bay, won 5-of-6 starts last year for trainer Phil Bauer, including graded scores at nine furlongs in the Grade 2 Mother Goose in October at Belmont at the Big A and the Grade 3 Falls City against elders in November at Churchill Downs.

Xigera is winless in three starts this year at Churchill Downs, landing a distant fifth in the Grade 1 La Troienne before chasing the victorious Scylla in both the Grade 3 Shawnee when second in June and a troubled fifth in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis last out on June 29.

Out of the stakes-winning Black Tie Affair mare Argent Affair, Xigera is a half-sister to graded stakes-winner Forty Under. She was purchased for $190,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and has banked $914,921 through a 13-6-2-1 record.

The Personal Ensign is slated as Race 10 on Friday’s 12-race card which also features the Listed $150,000 Smart N Fancy in Race 5. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.

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