Zipse: Elate should race the boys sooner rather than later

The Travers Stakes (G1) may have been the afternoon's headliner, but in Saturday's Personal Ensign (G1), Midnight Bisou and Elate delivered the card's most memorable performance.

In their third meeting of the season, the nation's top two older dirt females threw down in a battle royal that will be talked about for years.

Elate made first run, but Midnight Bisou and jockey Mike Smith were bearing down on them from the outside. The final 100 yards of the Grade 1 race at Saratoga is what racing is all about. Two incredible athletes giving their absolute all to get to the wire first. A group of graded stakes winners were left far behind in their wake. A large crowd consumed by every powerful stride of the pair.

In the end, there was a winner. It's just a shame there had to be a loser in this one.

To the winner go the spoils, and for the third time, that was Midnight Bisou. Now 6-for-6 in 2019, all in graded stakes, the daughter of Midnight Lute is well on her way to a very deserved Eclipse Award.

Ahh, but what about the loser? Of course, it would be a mistake to call Elate a loser.

Rounding into top form after returning from a minor injury that kept her out of last year's Breeders' Cup, the Bill Mott-trained 5-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro had come into the Personal Ensign off two sharp wins in the Fleur de Lis (G2) and the Delaware Handicap (G2).

The Personal Ensign was supposed to be her shot to finally defeat the leader of the division after suffering two early seasons losses to Midnight Bisou in Arkansas.

Despite those results at Oaklawn Park, the betting public thought so, making her the favorite over Midnight Bisou on Saturday.

Elate fired her best shot but just came up short. It was a great effort, in a race that will be remembered among the year's best.

From the first time I saw Elate, I expected big things for the homebred. I was lucky enough to be at Aqueduct when the juvenile filly romped home in her career debut by more than 12 lengths. To this point in her career, Elate has exceeded my early expectations. Still, I wonder if there could have been more.

Owned by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, Elate has put together a fine career. She has won 7-of-17 lifetime starts and amassed better than $2.25 million in the bank. Unfortunately, she has also not had the best of luck throughout her career.

Not ready for the most prestigious race of the year for 3-year-old fillies, the Kentucky Oaks, Elate got good in the summer of 2017. She romped home in the Alabama (G1) and the Beldame (G1) before a slightly disappointing fourth-place effort out in California in the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

Her 4-year-old season was off to a promising start last year but was cut short due to a splint bone issue. While she's only had one shot at the Breeders' Cup so far, and never got to run in the Kentucky Oaks, Elate also has suffered some really tough beats.

Saratoga has not been kind to Elate. That may sound strange, given that she scored in the prestigious Alabama for fun, but her 1-for-4 record at the Spa seems downright unfair considering just how well she has run there.

Saturday's heartbreaking defeat at Saratoga was not the first for Elate. In fact, it's become a yearly occurrence.

Two years ago, she was denied by the champion, Abel Tasman, in a heated stretch duel in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). Last year, that same rival edged her in the 2018 edition of the Personal Ensign.

On both occasions, jockey Mike Smith and Abel Tasman bumped Elate in the respective stretch runs. Elate's rider, Jose Ortiz felt cheated out of both victories.

“You couldn’t miss it. (Jockey Mike Smith) clearly came out and knocked my filly off balance, knocked me off balance and beat me by a neck,” Ortiz said after last year's Personal Ensign. “I think (Abel Tasman) should have come down 100 percent. I think (Elate) ran a great race. Both fillies did, but, c’mon. Last year he bumped me, this year he bumped me again and I should have won both of them.”

Ironically, it was Mike Smith again, this time on Midnight Bisou, edging out Elate and Jose Ortiz for a big win. Thankfully, this time there was no objection to be filed.

So, Elate has not enjoyed the best of luck throughout her career, but the good news for her connections, and her fans, is that her career is far from over. Her trainer hinted there might be another season of racing for Elate next year as a 6-year-old.

"Maybe we'll have to keep her in training another year and try again," he said Saturday. "But she ran great. Both the top two fillies ran great."

Whether Mott was completely serious, or more lamenting over her tough losses in this race, remains to be seen. But one things for sure: Elate is in top form as we head to the fall.

Of course, that means a second shot at the Breeders' Cup. There is also an option of a prep race at Belmont Park before heading to California.

"She's good. We'll have to decide if we go back to the Beldame or if we wait for the Breeders' Cup," said Mott. "If we wait for the Breeders' Cup, we're going to give strong consideration to the Classic. It seems like [the further the better]. It brought her and Midnight Bisou closer together yesterday...real close together."

Close for sure, but I'm not sure another shot at her in the Beldame, now a Grade 2, is the answer. If that is the route, she would find Midnight Bisou again, this time at one-turn, and at a track that the Personal Ensign winner clearly loves.

If Mott and team do want to get one more race in before the Breeders' Cup, why not the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1)?

Like the Beldame, it is situated a perfect five weeks after the Personal Ensign, and five weeks before the Breeders' Cup, but it offers plenty of advantages over the Beldame for Elate.

First and foremost, it is at 10 furlongs, which has proven to be her favorite distance. The talented grinder has one each of her three career 1 1/4-mile races with absolute authority.

At $750,000, the Jockey Club Gold Cup also offers more than double the purse of the $300,000 Beldame. But more than the money, it offers the opportunity at a career-defining win.

Elate has already won the Beldame, but if she wins the Jockey Club Gold Cup, she would become the first female to do it in nearly a half a century. The great Shuvee was the last to turn the trick, winning back-to-back editions in 1970 and 1971.

Yes, I know it would mean facing males for the first time, including Mott stablemate Tacitus. But Elate's connections have been talking about trying the Breeders' Cup Classic now the past two seasons.

I worry that the California tracks, Del Mar in 2017 and Santa Anita this year, are not the most conducive to Elate's grinding running style. Why not try her against the males for the first time at a track we already know she likes?

As of now, it looks like the favorite in the Beldame would be Midnight Bisou. In the Jockey Club Gold Cup, it would be the Travers hero, Code of Honor.

Which is the tougher assignment? That's hard to say, but I do know that the latter race is a bigger prize, at Elate's preferred distance, and would offer the perfect litmus test for the Breeders' Cup.