Walter Wlodarczyk Photo

McGaughey on the great Personal Ensign

by NYRA Press Ofiice

• McGaughey on the great Personal Ensign
• McPeek ‘feeling relaxed’ ahead of Thorpedo Anna’s historic G1 DraftKings Travers bid
• Fierceness looks to parlay G2 Jim Dandy success into G1 DraftKings Travers
• Euro Report: Beckett sends Verbier for G2 Flower Bowl; Armada of Appleby trainees breeze Friday on Oklahoma turf
• “Pickle for the Ponies” brings thoroughbred racing industry celebrities together to support Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund

Today’s Grade 1 Personal Ensign is named in honor of Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey’s 1988 Eclipse Champion Older Female, who was a force on the track winning all 13 of her starts and carrying that talent to the breeding shed.

The Phipps Stable homebred daughter of Private Account and the Hoist the Flag mare Grecian Banner broke her maiden on September 28, 1986, by 12 3/4-lengths over a muddy seven-furlongs at Belmont Park. She came back on October 13 in the one-mile Grade 1 Frizette and prevailed by a head.

“The first time I ran her she won. I ran her back in the Frizette because I had seen the Matron the same day that she ran and she ran the same time, so I ran her back in the Frizette and she won but she had to run that day,” McGaughey said.

Preparing for that year’s Breeders’ Cup races at Santa Anita Park, Personal Ensign suffered an injury to her hind pastern after a work.

“She breezed fantastically, came back and after she walked for about thirty minutes, and something was off. We had to put five screws in her back pastern,” McGaughey said.

Personal Ensign came back in September of her 3-year-old year, winning two allowance races, the Grade 2 Rare Perfume and the Grade 1 Beldame, all at Belmont Park. Those four races took place between September 6 and October 18 with the Rare Perfume and Beldame scores coming just eight days apart.

Mr. Phipps and McGaughey opted to skip the 1987 Breeders’ Cup with the filly as they thought it was too late in the year for her. They tucked her away for the winter before her most productive season yet.

At four she came back to Belmont Park, the home of all her races so far, and won the May 15 Grade 1 Shuvee.

“I couldn’t get a race to go for her, so I ran her in the Shuvee which was a Grade 1 at the time. It was kind of history from there,” McGaughey said.

Personal Ensign remained unchallenged in all her starts with still the closest any horse had come to beating her being the head win in the Frizette at two. McGaughey responded to the doubters and took his charge down to the Jersey Shore to contest the Grade 2 Molly Pitcher.

“There was a little bit of chatter from the West Coast that she had only won at Belmont Park,” McGaughey recalled. “I said, 'OK, I will take care of that.' So, I took her down to Monmouth and ran her in the Molly Pitcher and she won way off.”

After the win, Mr. Phipps wanted to test his filly against the colts. Personal Ensign entered the 1988 Grade 1 Whitney and rolled home a 1 1/2-length winner, beating Gulch over the sloppy Saratoga track.

“Mr. Phipps wanted to run her against the colts. I said, ‘OK we can do that.’ So, I ran her in the Whitney, and she won beating Gulch in a three-horse race,” McGaughey recalled

Following her Whitney win she took down the Grade 1 Maskette and Beldame en route to her most thrilling race yet. In 1988, Personal Ensign made her first appearance at the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs. There she lined up against Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors for the second time after defeating her by three-quarters of a length in the Maskette.

Personal Ensign was well back early over the muddy going, breaking from post six of nine, and looked like she was not taking to the track. In arguably her greatest performance to date, she made a huge move around the field and was able to get her nose down at the wire over Winning Colors to keep her perfect record intact.

“We went to the Breeders’ Cup, and everything was good. It came up kind of a funny day and the track - I don’t think she handled it. It didn’t look like she was going to win until the last jump. She got up to win and that was it, but it would have been terrible if she had been 12-1 instead of 13-0. It all worked out,” a smiling McGaughey said.

The Personal Ensign was known as the Firenze from 1948-85 and the John A. Morris from 1986-97, and McGaughey has won the race twice since the name change in 1997, both with Phipps homebreds.

In 2004, McGaughey led over Mr. Phipps’ Storm Flag Flying, who was the granddaughter of Personal Ensign. The product of Storm Cat and the multiple Grade 1 winning Easy Goer mare My Flag, Storm Flag Flying won the Personal Ensign by 1 1/4-lengths over Azeri.

“It was fun having three generations. You know, My Flag was not the easiest to train but she won the Breeders’ Cup when she was two and you know that was fun to have Personal Ensign, My Flag, and Storm Flag Flying all win a Breeders’ Cup,” McGaughey said.

His second win was in 2010 with the Smoke Glacken mare Persistently. That day she went to post with odds of 21-1 and proved her backers correct taking down her first and only graded score. She beat the talented Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra by one length.

“I was over there in the paddock looking at Rachel Alexandra. I was not too worried about my horse. I thought she was doing well but we were taking a shot that day, it just happened to work in our favor,” McGaughey said.

McGaughey and fellow Hall of Famer Mack Miller share the record for most wins in the race for a trainer with four, McGaughey scoring with Personal Business [1990], Heavenly Prize [1995], Storm Flag Flying [2004], and Persistently [2010].

In 1993, Personal Ensign, who banked in excess of $1.6 million in purse earnings, was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Her impact on the breed and racing will not be forgotten and today another Champion with royal bloodlines will look to leave her mark on history when Idiomatic attempts to defend her title in the prestigious event.

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McPeek ‘feeling relaxed’ ahead of Thorpedo Anna’s historic G1 DraftKings Travers bid

On the eve of Thorpedo Anna’s quest for history in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Ken McPeek entertained a steady stream of visitors, handed out pink ballcaps from several boxes stacked in his barn office and, most important, remained steadfast in his confidence for the 3-year-old filly superstar nicknamed ‘The Grizzly.’

Nader Alaali, Mark Edwards, Judy Hicks and Magdalena Racing’s Thorpedo Anna will attempt to become just the eighth filly and first since Lady Rotha in 1915 to win the 1 1/4-mile Travers, the centerpiece of the Saratoga summer season being run for the 155th time. As he has been since her debut last October, jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. will be aboard for the ride.

“We’re feeling relaxed. All the work is done, now it’s up to Brian from here. She’s doing fantastic. She’s made our job really easy. This isn’t a complicated setup here,” McPeek said. “I think there’s all to gain and not much to lose. I think as long as she runs well, that’ll be good. If she wins, that’s historic. If she doesn’t then we regroup and take her to Parx and win the Cotillion.”

McPeek is no stranger to finding, and winning, ambitious spots for his horses. In 2002, he sent out Sarava for a 70-1 upset of Triple Crown hopeful War Emblem in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, and just four years ago saw his Swiss Skydiver become only the sixth and most recent filly to win the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes.

“I’ve read a little bit about [the history], but it’s really her that’s took us here because she’s been so dominant,” he said. “I didn’t wake up saying, ‘I want to win the Travers with a filly.’ I’ve got a filly that really deserves a chance at it. I mean, she dragged us here. We didn’t push her.

“Somebody asked me when’s the last time I ran a filly against colts. I said, ‘Preakness.’ I think it might be the only time I ever ran a filly against colts in my career,” he added. “All situations are different. They’re like apples and oranges.”

Purchased by McPeek for $40,000 as a yearling in October 2022, Thorpedo Anna enters the Travers having won 6-of-7 career starts including all four this year – the Grade 2 Fantasy, Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Grade 1 DK Horse Acorn and Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks – by 18 3/4 combined lengths.

Each of the last two wins came at Saratoga, and rather than stay with fillies and try for a third in last weekend’s Grade 1 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales, McPeek opted for a new challenge. He has been more than encouraged by the way Thorpedo Anna has thrived in the time since her 4 1/2-length victory in the July 20 CCA Oaks.

“It’s gone better than I ever thought it would ever go. She’s cooperated a thousand percent. I’ve said all along she’s an easy filly to be around, she loves her work and she’s obviously naturally talented,” he said. “The only thing I have trepidation about is, is she that good? Can she outrun those colts? But we’ve done everything we’ve asked her to do against the fillies, so she’s got nothing to prove there.”

Thorpedo Anna drew the rail against seven rivals, among them Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets and Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell winner Dornoch, the 5-2 morning-line favorite; Fierceness, the reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Colt; and Grade 1 Blue Grass winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone and stablemate Unmatched Wisdom, unbeaten in three starts including Saratoga’s July 19 Curlin.

“The pace of this race is the big question mark. You don’t know how that thing’s going to unfold. You just hope you have a clean trip and don’t get shut off some place and have compromised your chances to win,” McPeek said. “She’s overcome a lost shoe in her first race here. She overcame a bad break in the second race here. Good horses overcome stuff like that.

“I don’t have any doubt that she’ll be competitive. It’s just a matter of if she has the right trip, and another horse can run a huge race,” McPeek added. “There’s one undefeated horse in there, Dornoch always runs pretty hard, Fierceness – it’s high-level talent. It’s not supposed to be easy.”

Thorpedo Anna has posted two sharp breezes since the Coaching Club, one each on the Oklahoma training and Saratoga’s main tracks and has not missed a beat in training for what will be the longest race of her career.

“She’s a strong galloper. She just keeps going and going and going. The other day she went two miles on the gallop, came home and dove in the feed tub. Yesterday she galloped almost a mile and three-quarters and killed the feed tub. Knocked it out. That’s what you’ve got to see,” McPeek said.

“Tonight I’ll be sticking my nose in the stable to see what time she finishes up. I’ve always believed the faster they eat, the faster they’ll run. When they’re slow in the tub, then I think you’ve got to pay attention to that,” he added. “That’s really the only concern I’ll have tonight.”

Hernandez, also the regular rider of Thorpedo Anna’s stablemate, Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, is to be honored today as the 2024 recipient of the Mike Venezia Memorial Award, presented annually to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia. A Brooklyn native that won more than 2,300 races during a 25-year career, Venezia died as a result of injuries suffered in a 1988 spill.

To commemorate Thorpedo Anna’s quest for history, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will be distributing free posters while supplies last on Travers Day at Gates B and C when gates open at 9 a.m. Eastern.

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Fierceness looks to parlay G2 Jim Dandy success into G1 DraftKings Travers

The 155th running of the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers brings eight talented contenders to the 10-furlong test at Saratoga Race Course, each with their own story, including how Thorpedo Anna matches up against males and whether Sierra Leone can break a string of close placings.

One of the biggest question marks of all is whether Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Fierceness will win back-to-back races for the first time in his career after annexing the nine-furlong Grade 2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun on July 27 here.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who has completed the Dandy-Travers double with Flower Alley [2005] and Stay Thirsty [2011], said that Repole Stable’s Kentucky homebred son of City of Light may be overly criticized for a third in the Grade 3 Holy Bull in February at Gulfstream Park. The effort came between romps in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November at Santa Anita Park and the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March at Gulfstream.

“In the Holy Bull, I think he had a pretty legitimate excuse that day. He got banged around at the start pretty thoroughly,” said Pletcher. “I don’t think that was as bad of a race as maybe some people portray it to be.”

Pletcher said Fierceness’ other losses also featured tough starts. They came in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby in May at Churchill Downs under Hall of Famer John Velazquez and the Grade 1 Champagne in October at Belmont at the Big A with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard.

“In the races that he hasn’t won, he hopped at the start in the Champagne, then got bumped around in the Holy Bull. He didn’t break super great, then got sandwiched from both sides,” Pletcher explained. “In the Derby, he kind of hopped at the start and Johnny felt like that maybe he gave him a little too much to do trying to recover and get position.”

With this in mind, Fierceness will look to break smoothly under Velazquez from the outermost post 8, tabbed at a morning line assessment of 3-1.

“Love it [the post],” Pletcher said. “We have no plans, I will leg John Velazquez up and wish him good luck. He knows his way around there.”

To prepare to get going smoothly, Fierceness has paddock schooled regularly, including on Thursday. Before his last-out win in the Jim Dandy, he knocked his conditioner over in the paddock.

“He usually behaves well, every once in a while he will rear up a little bit,” Pletcher said, adding that Thursday’s education went swimmingly. “Perfect. I thought he looked awesome. He behaved very well and it was a good session.”

Out of the winning Stay Thirsty mare Nonna Bella, Fierceness holds a record of 7-4-0-1 with in excess of $1.9 million in earnings.

Running in Sunday’s six-furlong state-bred $200,000 Seeking the Ante is Repole Stable’s New York homebred Carmen’s Candy Jar. The Vino Rosso bay looks to rebound from a closing fourth in the six-furlong Listed Schuylerville on July 11 here. In her lone other start, she won a five-furlong state-bred maiden on June 23 at Belmont at the Big A.

“She’s doing well. She’s back with New York breds,” said Pletcher. “I’m looking forward to stretching her out a little bit, but this is the only New York-bred opportunity that we had.”

Carmen's Candy Jar is the first foal out of the unraced Uncle Mo mare No Mo Shopping, who is a half-sister to dual graded stakes-winner Always Shopping and a full sister to graded stakes-placed Mo Shopping. Her second dam is multiple graded stakes-placed Stopshoppingmaria.

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Euro Report: Beckett sends Verbier for G2 Flower Bowl; Armada of Appleby trainees breeze Friday on Oklahoma turf

Three-time English Classic-winning trainer Ralph Beckett has sent recent stakes winner Verbier to try her luck stateside in next Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl, at Saratoga Race Course. The 11-furlong turf marathon offers a ‘Win and You’re In’ berth for the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on November 2 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.

Owned by Doreen Tabor, the lightly raced 4-year-old Frankel filly was a smart winner of York Racecourse’s Listed Lyric Fillies over an extended 10 furlongs on July 26.

“She was a good winner of the Lyric Fillies on her last start and is a filly we have always rated highly, but has taken a long time to get to where she is now,” Beckett said. “She’s a tough girl, so the traveling and the way the race will set up at Saratoga will suit her well. Obviously, it’s a prize worth winning. We will look to send Eddy Greatrex over to ride her.”

Patiently campaigned, the $543,682 Tattersalls October 2021 yearling purchase is rated 96 and appears on the improve for her lofty connections. The 11-furlong Flower Bowl will be a marginal step back up in trip for Irish-bred and another run over a flatter, left-handed course design that has agreed with her, including the aforementioned Lyric Fillies’ and a victory on debut at Wolverhampton last year.

Beckett, 53, has just one victory from 14 North American runs, but has proven capable of having a horse firing on all cylinders when the money is on the line. The winner of two Group 1 English Oaks won the 2008 Listed Breeders’ Cup Marathon with Muhannak was a close third in both the 2023 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint with Starlust and 2022 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile with Kinross. In 2015, his mare Secret Gesture was disqualified from first in Arlington Park’s Grade 1 Beverly D. and placed third.

Doreen Tabor owned 2020 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf third Miss Amulet, as well as 2023 Grade 2 Ballston Spa third Jumbly and 2022 Grade 3 Pebbles fourth Majestic Glory.

In other European ship-in news, Charlie Appleby has added to his American arsenal with a trio of Godolphin juveniles, including Grade 2 With Anticipation contender Cavallo Bay, winner of a pair of novices from three starts in England. By superstar Pinatubo out of Grade 1 Natalma winner La Pelosa - both trained by Appleby - the bay colt is rated 87 and defeated favored stablemate Olympus Point last out on July 4 at Haydock, despite toting a six-pound penalty.

“We have Cavallo Bay, who’s likely going to run towards the end of the week there,” Appleby said. “We have a couple others there - the filly Mountain Breeze and Al Qudra - who are based there to head to Canada. They’ll be heading out there in early September. The whole team there all seems to be happy. Some of that team will be heading down to Keeneland over the coming weeks, as we come to the close of the Saratoga meet, which we’ve really enjoyed and had a bit of success, as well.”

A large string of Appleby trainees covered a half-mile over Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma turf training track Friday, led by multiple graded stakes-winners Cinderella’s Dream and Eternal Hope.

Cinderella’s Dream has notched back-to-back wins in the Grade 1 Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational and Grade 2 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational this summer, with the latter effort producing a 94 Beyer Speed Figure on August 2 for a 1 1/2-length score over Kathynmarissa.

Eternal Hope was last seen finishing a prominent fourth in the Grade 2 Glens Falls going 1 1/2 miles on the turf here on August 1, her first start of the year after a productive sophomore season that saw her win a stake in Great Britain and a pair of graded events at Belmont at the Big A.

Chris Connett, assistant to Appleby, said Eternal Hope is on target for the Grade 2 Flower Bowl, while Cinderella’s Dream has no firm target yet.

“Eternal Hope runs on the 31st, that’s the plan,” said Connett. “Plans are very fluid for Cinderella. It was a very easy work, just going through the motions.”

Several of Appleby’s workers are pointed to upcoming engagements at Woodbine, including Naval Power, who was last seen finishing a head back of Program Trading in the Grade 1 Turf Classic on May 4 at Churchill. The Teofilo gelding was also runner-up to stablemate Master of The Seas in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile in April at Keeneland. The talented bay is aiming for the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile on September 14 at the Toronto oval.

Connett said Naval Power enjoyed his work in company with dual

group/graded stakes-winner Bold Act.

“Bold Act and Naval Power went nicely. Naval Power is prepping for the race up at Woodbine,” said Connett. “He will have one more serious piece and that should have him in order for that.”

Stakes-placed Musical Act has worked regularly at Saratoga this summer and went in company with new arrival Mountain Breeze, who is dual group-placed in Great Britain.

The talented juvenile pair of Al Qudra and Cavallo Bay also worked in company Friday.

“Cavallo Bay runs next week here and Al Qudra could also go up to Canada as well,” said Connett. “It was a sensible, nice work. First bit they’ve been able to do since they came out of quarantine."

The lone solo worker of the morning for Appleby was Grade 2 Pennine Ridge-winner Legend of Time, who had his first work back since a game runner-up finish to Carson’s Run in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 11 here.

“I thought it was pleasing,” Connett said of the effort. “When we can get on good ground, we take it.”

- With overseas reporting courtesy of Michael Adolphson

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“Pickle for the Ponies” brings thoroughbred racing industry celebrities together to support Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund

Hosted by Legacy Pickleball Club in Ballston Spa “Pickle for the Ponies,” will benefit Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga (THS) and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF).

Open for all to attend and enjoy, this exciting pickleball tournament will provide a family-friendly afternoon of fun, community engagement, and charitable giving. This first-time event will provide a fantastic opportunity for spectators to enjoy pickleball, meet racing celebrities, and support two impactful causes.

“As an Ambassador for Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, I’m excited to participate in this new community outreach event” said retired Hall of Fame Jockey, Ramon Dominguez. “This new event will bring the Saratoga community and the racetrack community together for a fun afternoon of light-hearted competition and awareness-raising for two terrific organizations. Both the THS and PDJF focus their efforts on the health and well-being of people and they each understand the powerful role horses as healers.”

“Pickle for the Ponies” will be held Monday, August 26 from 3 – 6 p.m. Eastern at the Legacy Pickleball Club located at 4 McCrea Hill Rd, Ballston Spa, NY 12020. Tickets start at $25 and are available online or at the door.

Guests may watch from courtside or purchase spots to play in the tournament alongside some of your favorite racing stars. Celebrity players include members of the Saratoga jockey colony, Hall of Fame jockeys, thoroughbred racing trainers and media personalities.

The event will include food offerings from Neighborhood Kitchen; Product samplings will be provided by Druthers Brewing Company and Old Tavern Farm Winery; as well as an opportunity to get up close and personal with therapy horses from Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga.

A silent auction will offer exciting items and experiences plus the opportunity to watch the matches and cheer on your favorite racing stars on the court.

For more information and tickets, visit https://thsaratoga.org/events/.