Persistently Surprises Rachel Alexandra
Persistently waited patiently behind a speed duel and made an inexorable rally in the stretch to upset Rachel Alexandra by a length on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course in the 63rd running of the Grade 1, $300,000 Personal Ensign for fillies and mares.
Reigning Horse of the Year and odds-on favorite Rachel Alexandra, making her first start at the Spa since her victory in last year’s Grade 1 Woodward, was away alertly but was challenged immediately by second choice Life At Ten. With Rachel Alexandra racing along the inside and Life At Ten glued to her flank, the two favorites raced in tandem as they passed the grandstand for the first time, with Rachel Alexandra floating her rival several paths wide as they entered the first turn.
As the battle continued up front, Persistently settled outside in fourth, 14 ½ lengths behind as the pacesetters dictated fractions of 47.73 for the half-mile and 1:12.02 for six furlongs. Rachel Alexandra put away Life At Ten at the quarter pole, but Persistently had already begun to whittle away at the deficit. Set down for the drive, Rachel Alexandra offered temporary resistance to Persistently’s bid before the long shot collared the favorite in the final 30 yards.
“She had a very good trip all the way behind the leaders,” said winning jockey Alan Garcia. “At the three-eighths pole, I knew I had to move, and she did it. I knew she was doing this well.”
Calvin Borel, rider aboard Rachel Alexandra, offered no excuses.
“I had everything my way, and she just got outrun,” said Borel. “After we put away Life At Ten at the quarter pole, I didn’t feel any acceleration and I got worried. She wasn’t really there. I knew if anyone was running behind us, we were in trouble.”
The second highest price on the board at 21-1, Persistently returned $45.00 for a $2 win wager to her backers in the crowd of 23,347. The Phipps Stable homebred covered the 1 ¼ miles in 2:04.49.
“Obviously with a filly like Rachel Alexandra in the race, we knew we were a long shot. But we did think she’d run a mile and a quarter,” said winning Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. “It was Mr. [Ogden] Phipps’ decision. He said to me, ‘If it’s going to be a short field; I’d like to give it a try. It’s one of those things that pays off. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t. But today it did. I felt like something was going to be going on up front, and I just wanted [Garcia] to let the race unfold as it did and just kind of be there if she had a chance.”
Persistently, whose best performance in a stakes before today’s effort was a second-place finish in the 2008 Grade 1 Frizette, entered the Personal Ensign off a two-length victory in a Saratoga optional claimer on July 30, her only previous effort around two turns on the dirt.
The winner’s connections had won the this race three times before, capturing it in 1990 with Personal Business and in 1995 with Heavenly Prize when the race was called the John A. Morris; and in 2004 with Storm Flag Flying, a granddaughter of Personal Ensign. Bred in Kentucky, Persistently is a 4-year-old chestnut filly by Smoke Glacken and out of Just Reward, a daughter of Heavenly Prize.
“We’re just tickled to death to win the race, particularly with it being the Personal Ensign,” added McGaughey. “My hat’s off to Rachel Alexandra. She runs her heart out every time. She made a beautiful presence in the paddock today. We were just lucky enough to pick up the pieces.”
Rachel Alexandra’s trainer Steve Asmussen was disappointed with the outcome, but credited his mare for digging in after dueling for the lead.
“The winner won the race and I don’t want to take anything away from that,” said Asmussen. “In a five-horse field, you can’t complain about where you are. It is what it is. I thought [Rachel] put a very good mare [Life At Ten] away. It obviously took more out of her on the front end than we would have hoped for. When she moved away from [Life At Ten] that’s what you were hoping to see. Then she got run down late.”
Life At Ten finished third, 11 ¼ lengths behind the winner, with Miss Singhsix and Classofsixtythree completing the order of finish.