Personal Ensign Stakes 2023: Odds, free PPs, preview, more

Saratoga has brought out Nest’s best. The champion filly aims for another big stakes score there Friday.

Nest is the 4-5 morning-line favorite for the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes. Post time from Saratoga is 5:44 p.m. EDT, with FS2 showing the 1 1/8-mile race for 4-and-up fillies and mares.

The Personal Ensign is annually an important event in deciding Eclipse Award honors for top older dirt female. Just since 2013, Malathaat (2022), Letruska (2021), Midnight Bisou (2019), Forever Unbridled (2017), Close Hatches (2014), and Royal Delta (2013) all won it on the way to earning year-end championships.

Nest already owns an Eclipse Award for her efforts in the 3-year-old filly division last season. That campaign included Saratoga wins by 12 1/4 lengths in the Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) and 4 1/4 lengths in the Alabama Stakes (G1).

After missing the first half of 2023, Nest needs a big second half to earn top honors in the older dirt female division. The 4-year-old got her summer off to a good start July 23 at the Spa, defeating Clairiere by 2 1/4 lengths in the Shuvee Stakes (G2).

A Personal Ensign Stakes win Friday would give Nest four Grade 1 triumphs in her career. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. rides the Curlin filly for trainer Todd Pletcher and owners Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Michael House.

Four-time Grade 1 heroine Clairiere (5-2) can reestablish herself as the division leader Friday with a win for trainer Steve Asmussen. Prior to her Shuvee defeat, she won Oaklawn’s Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) and Belmont Park’s Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1).

Idiomatic (3-1) has emerged as standout in trainer Brad Cox’s barn. She enters the Personal Ensign off back-to-back wins, including in the Delaware Handicap (G2) on July 8.

Secret Oath (8-1) defeated Nest in the 2022 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Clairiere last winter in Oaklawn’s Azeri Stakes (G2) but has finished behind those two on other occasions. The D. Wayne Lukas trainee aims to bounce back from a fifth-place finish June 10 in the Phipps.

Here is a look at the field for the 2023 Personal Ensign Stakes (trainers and jockeys in parentheses) with morning-line odds:

1. Idiomatic (Brad Cox, Florent Geroux), 3-1

2. Malloy (Wayne Catalano, Dylan Davis), 50-1

3. Secret Oath (D. Wayne Lukas, Javier Castellano), 8-1

4. Sixtythreecaliber (Tom Amoss, Kendrick Carmouche), 15-1

5. Nest (Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz Jr.), 4-5

6. Clairiere (Steve Asmussen, Joel Rosario), 5-2

TimeformUS pace projections show Idiomatic going to the front under jockey Florent Geroux and getting a favorable setup. Favorite Nest is projected to sit third of six in the early going.

Visit Horse Racing Nation’s free past performances page for more information on the Personal Ensign and also Saratoga’s big Saturday stakes.

Other Friday stakes

Here is a look at other stakes races of note taking place Friday across the U.S. All post times are EDT.

2:20 p.m. – $150,000 Smart N Fancy Stakes, 4-and-up fillies and mares, 5 1/2 furlongs (turf), Saratoga, FS2

Roses for Debra (1-2) sports a 6-for-8 record that includes a Caress Stakes (G3) triumph earlier in the Saratoga meet July 22. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. and trainer Christophe Clement team up with the 4-year-old Liam’s Map filly. Brad Cox trains Bubble Rock (3-1), a Grade 2 winner who was third in the 5 1/2-furlong Caress, 2 1/2 lengths shy of Roses for Debra. Grade 3 victor Poppy Flower (5-1) was fourth in the Caress for trainer Bill Mott.

9:44 p.m. – $750,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3), 3-year-old fillies, seven furlongs, Charles Town, FanDuel TV

Hoosier Philly (3-1), a Grade 2 winner for trainer Tom Amoss, snapped a three-race losing streak June 17 at Ellis Park, winning the Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes. Jockey Edgar Morales will ride the Into Mischief filly, who scratched out of last month’s Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) at Saratoga. Cherie DeVaux trains Vahva (7-2), who was third July 8 at Belmont Park in the Victory Ride Stakes (G3). Undervalued Asset (4-1) takes her shot at graded flight after winning a Saratoga allowance race July 22.

Hoosier Philly leads a full field in Charles Town Oaks | Barn Tour: Amoss updates on stakes horses, debut winners

10:25 p.m. – $1 million Charles Town Classic Stakes (G2), 3-and-up, 1 1/8 miles, Charles Town, FanDuel TV

Giant Game (5-2) crossed fifth Aug. 5 at Saratoga in the Whitney Stakes (G1), one month after taking the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3). Jockey Martin Garcia leaves his Ellis Park base to ride the 4-year-old Giant’s Causeway colt for trainer Dale Romans. Saffie Joseph Jr. trains Skippylongstocking (3-1), a Grade 3 winner who was second in Cornhusker, 3/4 of a length behind Giant Game. Call Me Fast (9-2) also exits the Cornhusker, in which he recorded a fourth-place finish for trainer Michael Puhich.

10:26 p.m. – $100,000 Prairie Meadows Debutante Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, six furlongs, Prairie Meadows, FanDuel TV

Deboisblanc (3-1) has raced twice for trainer Brad Cox, following a third-place debut in May at Churchill Downs with a maiden score July 7 at Ellis Park. Jockey Fernando De La Cruz takes over the mount on the Munnings filly. Larry Rivelli trains Dorothy Crowfoot (7-2), who graduated on first asking July 9 at Hawthorne. The Kevin Eikleberry-trained Calebs Lady (4-1) already owns a stakes win over this track, coming July 29 in the Iowa Stallion Futurity.