Nest takes on Clairiere again in Personal Ensign

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It seemed that if Nest was ever going to be vulnerable, it would have been in last month’s Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee Stakes.

She hadn’t run in eight months and, in Clairiere, Nest was facing a top-quality mare who was coming off two consecutive Grade 1 stakes victories.

That mattered little to Nest, who, under clever handling from Irad Ortiz Jr., was able to get the jump on Clairiere and win the Shuvee by 2 1/4 lengths.

That effort would seem to have Nest primed for her next assignment – Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes, going 1 1/8 miles, at Saratoga. In it, Nest will again face Clairiere as well as 2022 Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath and in-form rivals Idiomatic and Sixtythreecaliber. Longshot Malloy completes the field.

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Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Nest, said the way Nest came out of the Shuvee is reminiscent of how she came out of last year’s Belmont Stakes, when she finished second to stablemate Mo Donegal. She then came to Saratoga and dominated Secret Oath in both the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama, on her way to an Eclipse Award.

“I couldn’t think of a horse that we ran in the Belmont that came out of the race as well as she did, that actually gained weight after the race,” Pletcher said. “She’s done that again after the Shuvee. Your first concern would be that might be a hard race on her after the long layoff. She’s just thrived on it and done great since then.”

Nest, a daughter of Curlin owned by Mike Repole and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, is 3 for 3 at Saratoga. A victory in the Personal Ensign would be her third Grade 1 stakes at Saratoga, joining Ginger Punch, who won the Go for Wand in 2007-08 and Personal Ensign as the rare ones to accomplish that feat.

“She has that rare ability to quicken at the end of a dirt race,” Pletcher said. “You don’t see a lot of horses show that turn of foot at the top of the stretch like we’ve seen her do. She’s just a very, very special filly.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. rides Nest from post 5.

Clairiere finished 3 1/4 lengths ahead of Nest when the two were third and fourth, respectively, in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland.

Clairiere has sandwiched Grade 1 wins in the Apple Blossom and Ogden Phipps between runner-up finishes to Secret Oath in the Grade 2 Azeri and to Nest in the Shuvee.

Asked how Clairiere can turn the tables on Nest in the Personal Ensign, trainer Steve Asmussen simply said “run faster.”

“Nest loves it at Saratoga, there’s no doubt about it,” Asmussen added. “Obviously, it’s more than a formidable challenge. We’re aware of who Nest is, but I don’t think company has ever worried Clairiere at all.”

Joel Rosario rides Clairiere from post 6.

Idiomatic, trained by Brad Cox, has won four or her last five starts, including the Grade 3 Shawnee at Churchill in June and the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on July 9. She could be a pace factor from the rail under Florent Geroux as could Malloy, a recent allowance winner at Hawthorne on July 13.

The Personal Ensign marks the return to the races of Secret Oath, who, after winning the Azeri, was beaten a neck by Clairiere in the Apple Blossom and by Played Hard in the La Troienne.

Secret Oath finished a non-threatening fifth behind Clairiere in the Phipps before getting a break with this race in mind.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas believes Secret Oath “thrives on the activity” and he hopes he has the filly race-ready.

“She’s doing super good, but when you go in that tough, against that kind of a field, you wish you had a race under their belt to tighten them up. I’ve done everything I think I can do, we’ll just lead her over there.”

Secret Oath will be reunited with jockey Luis Saez, aboard for six of her races including the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks win from 2022.

The Personal Ensign goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that starts at 1:10 p.m. and includes the $150,000 Smart N Fancy for older female turf sprinters.

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