Royal Delta faces It’s Tricky, Tiz Miz Sue once again in
Personal Ensign
Last year at Saratoga Race Course, Royal Delta bolstered her Eclipse Award
credentials with a 5 1/2-length win in the Grade 1 Alabama, and she later sewed
up champion three-year-old filly honors with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup
Ladies’ Classic.
On Sunday, Royal Delta will make her first start at Saratoga since the
Alabama when she carries highweight of 124 pounds in the Grade 1, $600,000
Personal Ensign Invitational Handicap going nine furlongs.
“We’re happy to give (Royal Delta) another chance back in Saratoga, where she
won the Alabama,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “She seems to be doing
fine here and we hope she repeats from a year ago.”
The Personal Ensign, a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” race for the Ladies’
Classic, could serve as the fourth meeting between Royal Delta and It’s Tricky,
and the first match between the two in 2012. In 2011, Royal Delta was third to
It’s Tricky in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. Royal Delta defeated
It’s Tricky in both the Alabama and the Ladies’ Classic.
After Royal Delta won the Ladies’ Classic, Benjamin Leon of Besilu Stables
purchased the daughter of Empire Maker for $8.5 million at the Keeneland
November Breeding Stock Sale. In her Besilu debut, the dark bay miss chased
Awesome Maria to finish a distant second in the Grade 3 Sabin in February at
Gulfstream Park, then was one-paced when ninth against males in the Group 1
Dubai World Cup in March.
The intercontinental sojourn seemed to take nothing out of the four-year-old,
who blitzed her opponents by eight lengths in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis in June
at Churchill Downs. Royal Delta had to work harder in her most recent start,
moving into a fast pace set by Love and Pride and then staving off a late
challenge from Tiz Miz Sue to win the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap by a neck on
July 21. Both Tiz Miz Sue and Love and Pride have been entered back in the
Personal Ensign.
“She had to work at it (in the Del ‘Cap), without a doubt,” Mott remarked.
“She had to work early and hang on late. With the difference in weight (nine
pounds) she gave to the second horse, she ran quite well. She’s doing well and
she’s proven in the past she can run well over this racetrack. She’s highweight,
and I suppose she deserves to be.”
Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith has the assignment aboard Royal Delta, the 4-5
morning-line favorite, from post position 4.
It’s Tricky is cross-entered to Friday’s Grade 1 Ballerina going seven
furlongs, and as of Thursday trainer Kiaran McLaughlin and owner Godolphin
Racing had not made a final decision on whether the Mineshaft filly would
compete in that race or the Personal Ensign. The trainer said Thursday the
Personal Ensign remained the more likely spot, but added that he needed to
discuss the matter with Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford.
Made the 2-1 morning-line second choice for the Personal Ensign, It’s Tricky
is unbeaten in three starts this year, opening her four-year-old season with a
pair of wins at Aqueduct in which she defeated Love and Pride by 2 3/4 lengths
in the Grade 2 Top Flight Handicap in March and then recorded a 3 1/2-length
score while cutting back in distance for the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap in April.
The bay lass is unraced since she took the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Handicap by
three-quarters of a length on May 28 at Belmont Park, but has trained steadily
at Belmont and the Greentree Training Center adjacent to Saratoga since that
race.
“We have her coming back at 1 1/8 miles, and she hasn’t raced in three
months,” McLaughlin noted. “Hopefully we’ll have her tight enough. She’s
training well and is coming into the race in great shape. We’re ready to go.”
It’s Tricky, who usually stalks the pace, drew post position 1, directly
inside front runners Brushed by a Star and Love and Pride.
“We might have a slight pace edge over Royal Delta,” McLaughlin said. “Being
that we’re in the one hole, we’ll be forwardly placed. There will probably be
one or two outside who will go out and clear us. We’ll see if they can. We’ll
let (jockey) Eddie (Castro) sort it out.”
Despite the formidable presence of Royal Delta and It’s Tricky, McLaughlin
did not want to concede the Personal Ensign to the favorites as it also drew Tiz
Miz Sue and Love and Pride, second and fourth in the Delaware Handicap; and
Brushed by a Star and R Gypsy Gold, first and third in the Grade 2 Molly
Pitcher.
“(Royal Delta and It’s Tricky are) the two most accomplished runners in the
field, but there are some other nice fillies in there,” he affirmed.
Tiz Miz Sue seeks her first win since a three-length decision in the Grade 3
Azeri in March at Oaklawn Park. Since that race, she has finished third in
Oaklawn’s Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap in April and second in both the Grade 3
Obeah in June and the Del ‘Cap at Delaware Park. In the latter event, Tiz Miz
Sue raced in fifth through six furlongs, came to Royal Delta’s flank in the
stretch, but could get no closer than a neck to the eventual winner.
“She ran a huge race; that’s all there is to it,” trainer Steve Hobby praised
Tiz Miz Sue’s performance. “She was training well, and we got nine pounds from
(Royal Delta in the Delaware Handicap).”
The spread will remain nine pounds as Tiz Miz Sue was assigned 115 for the
Personal Ensign. The five-year-old daughter of Tiznow, who third in this race
last year, will leave from post 6 with Joseph Rocco Jr. aboard at 6-1 on the
morning-line.
Love and Pride led at every call to defeat Tiz Miz Sue by 1 3/4 lengths in
the Obeah but faded to fourth after cutting blazing fractions of :45 3/5 and
1:09 4/5 in the Del ‘Cap. Trainer Todd Pletcher hopes Love and Pride, who will
have the blinkers taken off for the Personal Ensign, will ration her speed
better on Sunday.
“We’re definitely not going to do that again,” Pletcher said of the fast pace
Love and Pride set last time. “It’s a tall order, but she has run well here in
the past. We’re taking a shot. She’s doing very well at the moment. Who knows
what might happen at Saratoga.”
Love and Pride’s only prior start at Saratoga resulted in a 6 3/4-length
triumph Proud Spell Stakes last August. John Velazquez takes over riding duties
aboard the A.P. Indy four-year-old filly, who drew post 3 and was assigned 114
pounds.
Brushed by a Star also figures to be prominent early, having employed
front-running tactics to win her past three starts, including an 11-length
victory in the Iowa Distaff at Prairie Meadows in June and a 1 1/2-length score
in the Molly Pitcher on July 29 at Monmouth Park.
“Other horses may be quicker from the gate, but she comes out of the turn and
is on top,” trainer Grant Forster stated.
“Hopefully, she can continue to keep going up, up, up,” he added. “We’re
going way up this time. She always hinted at being a lot better. She’s obviously
trained strong and her confidence is sky-high.”
The four-year-old daughter of Eddington will tote 118 pounds, including Corey
Nakatani, from post 2 at 15-1 on the morning-line.
R Gypsy Gold, also trained by Pletcher, won the second stakes of her career
when she landed the Endear overnight stakes on July 4 at Belmont Park, her final
start prior to the Molly Pitcher, in which she rallied on the rail to finish
third, beaten 1 1/2 lengths.
“We’ll let her settle and make one run,” Pletcher said of the Bernardini
filly. “We hope she’ll keep coming. Her last couple of races have been very
good. She ran a sneaky-good race in the Molly Pitcher and was probably stuck on
the worst part of the racetrack.”
Javier Castellano will ride R Gypsy Gold, 15-1 and assigned 115 pounds, from
post 5.
Also on Sunday, seven New York-breds have been entered in the $100,000
Clever Electrician Stakes. The seven-furlong contest drew Fiddlers Afleet, a
7 1/4-length winner of the Chasin’ Wimmin’ Stakes at Belmont on July 6, as well
as multiple stakes victors Be Bullish and Mine Over Matter, the respective
second and third from the John Morrissey Stakes earlier this month at the Spa.
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