Pillar to post win for Idiomatic

Curlin filly Idiomatic won her third consecutive Graded race and stepped up to the highest level with a dominant win the the Gr.1 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on 25th August.

Taken from the Thoroughbred Daily News, 26th August 2023, by Jill Williams:

Idiomatic broke from the rail and quickly skipped to the lead, ears pricked while under a hold as longshot and Malloy tracked her through a :24.53 first quarter and a :48.84 half. Nest was third early while Secret Oath followed and the pair of Sixtythreecaliber and Clairiere trailed. The tempo quickened with a half-mile to go; Idiomatic still traveled easily. Approaching the eighth pole, Geroux started riding as Nest attacked from Idiomatic's outside and Secret Oath countered from the inside. Despite drifting late, Idiomatic put both away to win by a healthy four-length margin as runner-up Secret Oath outpunched Nest by just a neck. Final time for the nine furlongs was 1:49.12.

Eclipse champion Nest suffered her first defeat at the Spa, while four-time Grade 1 winner Clairiere was off the board for the first time since an uncharacteristic poor effort in last year's Personal Ensign.

"Based off the paper, I felt pretty confident [my filly] could establish a pretty solid lead," said Brad Cox. "I liked her [on a wet track], just the way she's made, she's big but she's not real heavy. I thought she could bounce through it, I really did."

Cox continued when asked about his thoughts on defeating Nest and Clairiere: "It's huge. They're champions. They've accomplished so much and they're still in good form. I'm very proud of her to win by a few lengths there. Big race and I'm very proud of her."

Fresh off back-to-back wins in the Gr.2 Delaware Handicap, despite an ugly stumble at the break, and the Gr.3 Shawnee Stakes with corresponding dual triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures,  Idiomatic has done her best running when loose on the lead. She's taken an interesting path to this level, debuting with a win in April of her sophomore year at Turfway Park. Five of her first six starts - sandwiched around a seven-month, mid-year break - were on the all-weather surface at Turfway. After posting three consecutive wins there to kick off her four-year-old campaign, which included a first stakes try in the Latonia Stakes (25th March). Cox shipped her to Belmont, where she made her graded debut on 6th May with a distant second behind Pass the Champagne in the Gr.2 Ruffian Stakes Idiomatic hasn't lost since.

Brad Cox said: "I want to congratulate Juddmonte, Prince Khalid, and his family for keeping the legacy going. They have a tremendous operation worldwide and this is a huge update for the farm and their operation. This filly is a homebred, so it means a lot. The week before I ran her in the Ruffian, I told [Juddmonte's] Garrett [O=Rourke] this filly will run on the dirt. It was an unbelievable breeze. She was second that day to Pass the Champagne, but her works on the dirt have been great all spring and into the summer. She gave us a lot of confidence this spring and summer. I've been confident in her for a while."