Idiomatic wires Personal Ensign at sloppy Saratoga

Friday’s $500,000 Personal Ensign (G1) offered a rematch between champion Nest and Clairiere, but it was the other Curlin filly, up-and-coming Idiomatic, who upstaged them both at Saratoga. On a sloppy track that likely magnified her advantage as the pacesetter, the Juddmonte homebred kept rolling to score in her Grade 1 debut.

“It's huge,” trainer Brad Cox said of toppling Nest and Clairiere. “They're champions. They've accomplished so much, and they're still in good form. I'm very proud of her to win by a few lengths there. Big race and I'm very proud of her.”

Idiomatic ranked as the 4-1 third choice following back-to-back wins in the Shawnee (G3) and Delaware H. (G2). The bay had wired the former at Churchill Downs, but last time out in Delaware, she took herself out of her game by stumbling at the start. The lightly-raced four-year-old did well to recover from that miscue, adjust her style, and get up to win by a head.

Drawn on the rail at the Spa, Idiomatic made no mistake. Jockey Florent Geroux was able to leverage her early speed, and position, to take charge through an opening quarter in :24.53. Malloy, the 45-1 longest shot on the board, tracked without applying meaningful pressure through the steady tempo of :48.84 and 1:12.61.

Nest, the 3-4 favorite, was in striking position in third, although she had to be nudged to take closer order on the far turn. On a fast track, the Todd Pletcher filly might well have been cruising on her own volition. Nest fans had reason to be concerned when she didn’t pick up as strongly as usual upon straightening into the stretch. Backers of the 3.10-1 Clairiere knew their fate by then, with the $3.1-million earner trudging along in the rear.

The one who briefly looked like threatening was Secret Oath. Last year’s Kentucky Oaks (G1) heroine cut the corner, and moving better than Nest, set her sights on the front runner. But her bid flattened out by midstretch.

Idiomatic continued to gallop with verve down the lane, emulating her “aunt,” champion Close Hatches, who romped in a muddy Personal Ensign in 2014. Increasing her margin to four lengths, Idiomatic cove red 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.12.

Secret Oath beat Nest by a neck for runner-up honors. There was a 12-length gap back to Malloy in fourth. Clairiere ran as though not handling the surface in fifth, and Sixtythreecaliber trailed.

Idiomatic might have made her mark at a higher level earlier, if not for a setback in the spring of her three-year-old season. Cox brought her along the comeback trail at Turfway Park over the winter, and she won three straight on the Tapeta, culminating in the March 25 Latonia S. Up in class for the May 6 Ruffian (G2) at Belmont Park, Idiomatic was second on the cutback to a one-turn mile. But she’d shown enough to prove her dirt aptitude.

“The week before I ran her in the Ruffian,” Cox revealed, “I told Garrett (O’Rourke of Juddmonte) this filly will run on the dirt. It was an unbelievable breeze. She was second that day to Pass the Champagne, but her works on the dirt have been great all spring and into the summer. She gave us a lot of confidence this spring and summer. I've been confident in her for a while.”

Idiomatic has outperformed her dam, Lockdown, who won the 2017 Busanda S. but couldn’t land a graded trophy. Second in the Mother Goose (G2) and Gazelle (G2), she was third in the Kentucky Oaks and Cotillion (G1) and fourth in her Spinster finale.

Lockdown remained in the shadow of older sister Close Hatches, the champion older dirt female of 2014. After a successful sophomore campaign with wins in the 2013 Cotillion, Mother Goose (then a Grade 1), and Gazelle, and a runner-up effort to Hall of Famer Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Close Hatches went on a tear at four. The Personal Ensign capped a four-race winning streak comprising the Azeri (G2), Apple Blossom (G1), and Ogden Phipps (G1).

Close Hatches is herself the dam of multiple Grade 2 hero and dual classic-placed Tacitus. She and Lockdown are the offspring of Juddmonte parents First Defence and Rising Tornado (by Storm Cat), thus closely related to Irish classic winner Siskin.