Midnight Bisou outgames Elate again in Personal Ensign
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Turning into the stretch of the Grade 1, $700,000 Personal Ensign on Saturday at Saratoga, Elate had a two-length lead over Midnight Bisou and everything seemed to indicate this would finally be Elate’s turn after having lost twice earlier in the year to her younger rival.
The 5-year-old Elate had shown an affinity for Saratoga and the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Personal Ensign. The 4-year-old Midnight Bisou, by her connections’ own admission, had not run well as a 3-year-old at Saratoga. Also, she was winless in races at 1 1/8 miles and farther.
In the final sixteenth of a mile, both Elate, under Jose Ortiz, and Midnight Bisou, ridden by Mike Smith and giving Elate four pounds, were expending every ounce of energy they had. In the end - yet again - it was Midnight Bisou who prevailed by a desperate nose in an epic 72nd renewal of the Personal Ensign.
“To win the Personal Ensign against Elate at a mile and an eighth at Saratoga, that’s a lot of check marks on our list,” said winning trainer Steve Asmussen.
The victory earned Midnight Bisou a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita. It was her sixth win in as many starts this year and her third in a Grade 1. She beat Elate in the Grade 2 Azeri and Grade 1 Apple Blossom, both at Oaklawn Park.
Asmussen noted that despite her resume, Midnight Bisou “was the second choice today because she needed to get this done, and she did.”
“And thank you Mikey,” he said, referring to Smith. “You see the way she responds to him, and it’s a beautiful thing to watch.”
Midnight Bisou came from last to get the victory. Coach Rocks, as expected, went to the lead, stalked by She’s a Julie, with Elate a close-up third. Ortiz said Elate broke so well he did not want to take away her forward position.
The pace was solid, a quarter in 23.46 seconds, a half-mile in 47.88, and six furlongs in 1:11.58.
Going into the turn, Ortiz sent Elate toward the leaders, and they took over at the quarter pole. Midnight Bisou followed Elate.
Elate, the 4-5 favorite, came four wide in the stretch while Midnight Bisou was five wide. From the perspective of Bill Mott, the trainer of Elate, “It was our race to win.”
Elate, according to Ortiz “was giving 110 percent,” but Midnight Bisou came with just a little bit more to get up.
“They both came into the stretch with a lot of horse,” Asmussen said. “You could tell how confident Jose was when he came to the stretch.”
Midnight Bisou, a 4-year-old daughter of Midnight Lute owned by Bloom Racing, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.92 and returned $5.40 as the 8-5 second choice. Elate finished 8 3/4 lengths in front of She's a Julie, who was third. Wow Cat was fourth, followed by Coach Rocks. Golden Award was eased.
Midnight Bisou is now 11 for 17 and has earned $3,245,000.
“The mare ran a tremendous race,” Smith said. “It was tough to get by Elate, who’s a champion in her own right. The extra four pounds, it took me just a bit to get going, but once I got her going I was really happy that she handled a mile and an eighth.”
Smith dedicated the victory to the former jockey Randy Romero, who’s in hospice, and Carmen Barrera, NYRA’s long-time director of horsemen’s relations who died unexpectedly earlier this year.
“It’s bittersweet,” said Smith, who rode in New York a long time before moving to California. “She’d be handing me the trophy.”
For Mott, the result was simply bitter. It was the third straight year that Elate lost a Grade 1 at Saratoga by a body part. In 2017, she lost the Coaching Club American Oaks by a head, though she did win the Grade 1 Alabama. In 2018, Elate was beaten a neck by Abel Tasman in this race after a long inquiry following a bumping incident.
To his credit, before speaking to the press, Mott went into the winner’s circle to shake Asmussen’s hand.
“You know what, I got to give him credit,” Mott said. “He brought his filly to the race in good order and she’s been running good. We have no excuse.”