Nest, Clairiere have side-by-side posts in Personal Ensign
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Nest and Clairiere drew posts 5 and 6, respectively, for their second meeting of the year in Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga.
Nest came off an eight-month layoff to defeat Clairiere by 2 1/4 lengths in the Grade 2 Shuvee Stakes here on July 23.
That gave Nest her third victory in as many graded stakes at Saratoga, having won the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks and Grade 1 Alabama here last summer.
Nest, trained by Todd Pletcher for Mike Repole and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, is 8 for 12 overall.
Clairiere won the Grade 1 Apple Blossom and Grade 1 Ogden Phipps before her defeat to Nest in the Shuvee.
Clairiere, owned by Stonesteet Stables and trained by Steve Asmussen, worked four furlongs in 49.21 seconds Sunday morning over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track, getting her last quarter in 23.64 seconds.
Secret Oath, the 2022 Kentucky Oaks winner who beat Clairiere in the Grade 2 Azeri at Oaklawn in March before finishing behind her in the Apple Blossom and Phipps, drew post 3 in the six-horse field.
Also entered were Idiomatic, the Delaware Handicap winner, and recent allowance winners Sixtythreecaliber and Molloy.
The Personal Ensign tops a 10-race Friday card that also includes the $150,000 Smart N Fancy, which drew a six-horse field topped by Roses for Debra, the Grade 3 Caress winner, and Poppy Flower and Bubble Rock, the 1-2 finishers in the Grade 3 Intercontinental at Belmont in June.
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