Farnsworth Stable’s ASK THE MOON (Malibu Moon) took the lead soon after the
start of Saturday’s $300,000
Personal Ensign S. (G1) at Saratoga and never looked back en route to a 2
3/4-length victory under jockey Javier Castellano. Despite veering toward the
center of the track in the lane, the tiring mare held off Pachattack (Pulpit)
and Tiz Miz Sue (Tiznow) to finish the 1 1/4-mile contest in 2:04 1/5.
“She’s a very fast filly, and I think the key is not fighting too much with
her,” Castellano said. “She ducked out a little bit because she was getting
tired, and I tried to push her a little hard and squeeze her a little bit, and
she responded.”
Ask the Moon headed straight to the front when the gates opened and proceeded
to set splits of :23 2/5, :47 1/5 and 1:11 2/5. Acronym (Empire Maker) and
Pachattack were keeping in close attendance just in behind, with Tiz Miz Sue
biding her time in fifth. As Ask the Moon neared the turn, Pachattack began her
move and ranged up to challenge the longtime leader on the outside. Tiz Miz Sue
was close behind, and those two did their best to threaten for the win.
Ask the Moon would not be denied, even though she was visibly tiring, and
turned back both bids to secure her second straight Grade 1 victory. Sent off
the 9-5 favorite in the six-distaffer field, the Marty Wolfson trainee paid
$5.90, $3.30 and $2.50.
“She improved,” Castellano said. “People said that maybe she got lucky last
time. They let her go on the lead and stole the race. I don’t think so. She
improved a lot, she’s a nice filly, she’s won two Grade 1s, and I’m glad to get
on the filly.”
“She obviously loves this track. She’s been amazing,” said Heather Irion,
assistant to Wolfson. “We never dreamed she would do this when we claimed her.
Marty loved her. He told me when he sent her over, ‘This filly is really special
to me.’ But I think she has blown us away with two Grade 1 wins right off the
bat. She’s just a dream. She does it all on her own.
“We were worried; distance was definitely an issue for us,” Irion admitted.
“She was all heart down the lane. She was obviously tired. She gives everything
she’s got. She’s all class.”
Pachattack, the 5-2 second pick, just held second by a head over a game Tiz
Miz Sue, who was the fifth choice at 6-1. It was another 3 3/4 lengths back to
Protesting (A.P. Indy), with Super Espresso (Medaglia d’Oro) and Acronym
completing the order of finish.
“Well, look, it was a good (dirt) debut, wasn’t it? I think we met a good
horse today,” owner Michael Deegan praised Pachattack’s game second. “She
traveled very well on the back, the jockey was making up ground, which is all we
wanted to see, so obviously she liked it.
“There are a couple of races coming up that we’re going to consider, but
obviously, ultimately, the goal is the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic ([G1] on
November 4 at Churchill Downs). There’s a bit of work between this and then, but
for her first race and the way she fought on the backstretch, we’ll take that.”
Ask the Moon burst onto the distaff scene with a dominating victory in the
Ruffian Invitational H. (G1) on July 31 at the Spa in her first start for
Wolfson, and is now two-for-two since joining that shedrow. Previously, the bay
mare racked up scores in the 2007 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship S. and
2009 Lighthouse S. while under the tutelage of trainer Edward Allard. She also
placed in six black-type events, including last year’s Lady’s Secret S. and
Monmouth Beach S., for Allard.
Ask the Moon was a $75,000 claim this past June at Belmont Park by Gary
Contessa for Farnsworth Stable and made her first start for her new connections
a third-place finish in the Sky Beauty S. She was soon after sent to Wolfson,
who saddled the six-year-old mare to a front-running, 5 3/4-length romp in the
Ruffian. With the Personal Ensign now added to her scorecard, Ask the Moon’s
tally stands at 32-10-5-7 and she’s banked $713,640.
Bred in Maryland by Mr. & Mrs. Charles McGinnes and Countrylife Farm, Ask the
Moon passed through the sales ring twice, bringing $45,000 as a Fasig-Tipton
Midlantic Eastern Fall yearling before selling for $125,000 as an OBS March
Selected two-year-old in training. She is out of the winning Valid Appeal mare
Always Asking, who has since produced a 2011 filly by Old Fashioned.
Always Asking is herself a daughter of stakes winner Willing’n Waiting (Villamor)
and a half-sister to stakes victor Willing to Cope (Copelan). This is the same
family as Group 3 vixen Freeze the Secret (Nearctic), who was runner-up in the
1977 One Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) and Epsom Oaks (Eng-G1).