2024 Personal Ensign Stakes Preview

Some of the best older fillies and mares in training headline the card on Friday, August 23, at Saratoga with the Personal Ensign (G1). The race, which offers a purse of $500,000, covers 1 ⅛ miles on the dirt. Although the race does not offer an automatic bid to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, the race has done a lot to shape that picture in recent years. Three horses have swept the pair in the last decade: Forever Unbridled (2017), Malathaat (2022), and Idiomatic (2023). Other notable winners over the years have included Midnight Bisou (2019), Close Hatches (2014), Royal Delta (2013), Storm Flag Flying (2004), and Heavenly Prize (1995).

Idiomatic, whose first Grade 1 triumph came in this race last year, has returned to try to win her second straight Personal Ensign. She leads a select field of five that features graded-stakes power from top to bottom: Ogden Phipps (G1) winner Randomized, Shuvee (G2) winner Raging Sea, Ruffian (G2) winner Soul of an Angel, and last year’s Mother Goose (G2) winner Xigera.

2024 Personal Ensign Stakes Information

• Race Date: Friday, August 23
• Track: Saratoga Race Course
• Post Time: 5:43 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ⅛ miles
• Age/Sex: 4-year-olds and up, fillies and mares
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing, Fox Sports 2
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Personal Ensign Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the 2024 edition of the Personal Ensign Stakes, including post positions, jockeys, trainers, and morning-line odds for each runner.

Personal Ensign Stakes Prep Race Results

The five runners in the Personal Ensign come out of four different races, all of which were graded stakes. The only one with two last-out runners was the Molly Pitcher (G3) on July 20 at Monmouth. Idiomatic was the heavy favorite on the class drop, but she had to work for it and only scored by a head over a game Soul of an Angel. Both of these mares clash again in the Personal Ensign.

Randomized is the only horse to race in Grade 1 company last out. She has not raced since June 8 at Saratoga, when she upset Idiomatic by a head in the Ogden Phipps (G1). Raging Sea has already raced once during the summer Saratoga meet, winning the Shuvee (G2) at the Spa by 2 ½ lengths on July 21. Xigera was last seen in the Fleur de Lis (G2) at Churchill Downs, where she flattened out to a five-length fifth behind Scylla.

Personal Ensign Stakes Contenders

These are the runners in the 2024 Personal Ensign in order of their post draws.

1. Xigera: She got very good in the fall, winning three races, including the Falls City (G3) in November, her first stakes engagement against older horses. However, in three starts this year, she has yet to prove herself against the true top-level runners of the division. The rail isn’t as bad as it would be in a bigger field, though it will be a new challenge for her against this kind of company, and she will need her absolute best to get there. She does have some races last year that suggest she could find it … though they weren’t against quite this quality of foes.
2. Soul of an Angel: She has spent most of her career bouncing between smaller stakes, allowance, and even claiming races. However, she has found the best form of her career since a move to the Saffie Joseph, Jr. barn for her last three starts. She won the Ruffian at a mile at Aqueduct for her first start for the new barn in May, and though she was a flat fifth in the Ogden Phipps next out, she ran within a head of Idiomatic last out in the Molly Pitcher. This is a tougher challenge: not only is the field deeper, but she has yet to show that she wants any part of 1 ⅛ miles. In short, last out, not this time, looks like the time to have been in on her.
3. Raging Sea: She showed talent as a juvenile, and has showed even more in her late three-year-old year into age four. She has some tables to turn from the Ogden Phipps two back against Randomized and Idiomatic, but she moved forward for the Shuvee next out. The question is whether she can stay to that standard or if she will regress. She likes Saratoga, and the 1 ⅛-mile distance is enough to suggest she can, so if Idiomatic and Randomized do something truly silly on the front end, perhaps she picks up the pieces.
4. Idiomatic: Despite her defeat two back and her close call in the Molly Pitcher, she does loom the one to beat. The Molly Pitcher was on the short side for her—that was just 1 1/16 miles, whereas she has never run a bad race at this distance. The biggest issue for her is making sure to keep Randomized close enough. Randomized is the likely pacesetter in this short field, and if Idiomatic lets her go early, it may be a repeat of her defeat in the Ogden Phipps late. But, if Randomized does have to work—either because Idiomatic presses hard or Xigera does the dirty work—Idiomatic can take it.
5. Randomized: She handed Idiomatic her first loss in over a year in the Ogden Phipps back in June, and things may set up just as well again. Randomized set the pace and battled on to win by a head over that foe, and did so from the rail. Now, she draws the outside post in a field of five, which is a dream draw for a speed horse like her. It won’t be easy, especially if Florent Geroux keeps Idiomatic a bit closer early, but with proven form over 1 ⅛ miles at the Spa and elsewhere, she shapes the most likely one to defeat the favorite.

Personal Ensign Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the 2024 Personal Ensign Stakes?

A: The 2024 Personal Ensign happens Friday, August 23. The race is scheduled for 5:43 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the Personal Ensign Stakes?

A: The Personal Ensign happens at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Personal Ensign Stakes?

A: Trainers Shug McGaughey and MacKenzie Miller lead all trainers with four wins each. Though McGaughey is still active, he does not have a runner in this year’s edition. The only trainer in the 2024 field who has won it before is Brad Cox, who won in 2023 with Idiomatic and brought her in for the repeat bid.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Personal Ensign Stakes?

A: Idiomatic is the 6-5 morning-line favorite. She won the race in 2023, and went on to claim the Breeders’ Cup Distaff and the older mare championship. Randomized may be close in the betting, however, as Randomized upset Idiomatic in the Ogden Phipps during Belmont Stakes weekend.

Q: Who is the best Personal Ensign Stakes jockey?

A: Angel Cordero leads all riders with eight wins in the Personal Ensign between 1968 and 1989, including victories in both divisions of the race in 1972. Among jockeys entered in the 2024 edition of the Personal Ensign, Joel Rosario leads with two wins, on Close Hatches (2014) and Forever Unbridled (2017). He will try to make it three with Randomized.

Q: Who won the Personal Ensign Stakes in 2023?

A: Idiomatic won the 2023 Personal Ensign for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux, who come back with Idiomatic for an attempt to repeat in 2024.

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