SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Idiomatic gets a chance to avenge her only loss in 13 months while Randomized gets to make her case for possibly dethroning the reigning older dirt female champion when the two square off again in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga. Last summer, Idiomatic dominated the Personal Ensign on the front end by four lengths for her first Grade 1 win. She added the Spinster and the Breeders’ Cup Distaff – beating Randomized by a half-length in the latter – to complete an 8-for-9 campaign that ended with an Eclipse Award. After galloping to a 3 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1 La Troienne at Churchill Downs to kick off her 5-year-old campaign, Idiomatic had her six-race win streak snapped when she fell a head shy of Randomized in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps here in June. A poor start and a wide trip over a track that was tilted toward inside speed makes Idiomatic’s effort in the Phipps more impressive than the result suggests, at least to her jockey, Florent Geroux. “She was the best horse in the race even though we didn’t get the win,” Geroux said. “She didn’t break very well, was carried wide into the first turn, and the pace was not crazy fast. I felt like Randomized really benefited from the trip. Honestly, if she breaks, nothing happens, I’m not going to be as wide, I’d be forwardly placed and be on top of Randomized.” :: Gain a competitive edge at Saratoga with DRF's premier handicapping data — purchase our meet packages today and bet with confidence. Idiomatic, trained by Brad Cox for Juddmonte, was sent off the 1-10 favorite in the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher on July 20 at Monmouth, but she got into a dogfight with Soul of an Angel for the last three furlongs, coming out just a head on top. Geroux said that Idiomatic was going quite easy the first part and that when the competition initially came to her, “I tried to make her go, but her ears were forward and she was not accelerating,” Geroux said. “At that point, when Irad [Ortiz Jr. on Soul of an Angel] saw my filly was not going he pushed the gas and put me in a spot. She was brave enough to not be intimidated, and I got after her pretty good down the lane and she prevailed.” Idiomatic has worked three times at Saratoga since the Molly Pitcher. She breaks from post 4, one slot inside of Randomized who will be ridden by Joel Rosario. Chad Brown, the trainer of Randomized, believes his filly did benefit from what he perceived to be a speed-favoring main track in the Phipps. Since the Phipps, Randomized did get sick, forcing her to miss a workout, Brown said, but having gotten in two recent workouts Brown feels fine to run. “She got over it pretty quickly,” Brown said. “She’s had two good works since that happened, and they looked pretty good.” Randomized is 3 for 4 at Saratoga, including stakes wins last year in the Alabama and Wilton. Brown also has Raging Sea, who came out of a fourth-place finish in the Phipps to win the Grade 2 Shuvee by 2 1/2 lengths here July 21. “She’s a really classy filly, if the right pace sets up in front of her she could spring an upset in here,” Brown said. Soul of an Angel upset Randomized in the Grade 2 Ruffian going one mile at Aqueduct in May. After finishing fifth in the Phipps, Soul of an Angel nearly upset Idiomatic in the Molly Pitcher at 1 1/16 miles. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said that he was using the Molly Pitcher to find out if he should keep Soul of an Angel routing or cut her back to seven furlongs in a race like Saturday’s Grade 1 Ballerina. “She didn’t give us any reason to cut her back,” Joseph said. “This time we get a [four-pound] swing in the weights. If she duplicates her last performance, she should be right there.” :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day. Xigera has yet to find the form she showed in the fall of 2023 when she won three dirt stakes to end her 3-year-old campaign. She finished second to Scylla in the Grade 3 Shawnee before encountering significant trouble in the stretch of the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis, where she finished fifth to Scylla. Phil Bauer, the trainer of Xigera, is enjoying a terrific Saratoga, having sent out five winners from 11 starters. The Personal Ensign goes as race 10 on a 12-race card that begins at 12:35 p.m. and also includes the $150,000 Smart N Fancy for female turf sprinters. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.