8/30 (SAR): Personal Ensign (G1)
 

10TH (5:56) Personal Ensign S. (G1)

1 1/4 Miles | Fillies and Mares | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $400,000

1 Sea Chanter Castellano J J 116 L
2 Unbridled Belle Velazquez J R 116 L
3 Morena (PER) Lezcano J 116 L
4 Miss Isella Borel C H 120 L
5 Weathered Luzzi M J 116 L
6 Icon Project Leparoux J R 116 L
7 Swift Temper Garcia Alan 118 L
8 With Flying Colors Prado E S 116 L

Note the owner and trainer of With Flying Colors???

I dont get it

Apparently the homebred daughter of My Flag daughter of the great Personal Ensign and dam of Storm Flag Flying and winner of 1.5 mil including the BCC juvy fillies was sold privately. Phipps typically keeps the filly's and gives them a shot to produce. Consider that this filly is a AP Indy and that SFF hasn't produced anything to date is very interesting. Her worth as a broodmare is substantial.

Easy victory for Icon Project.

Over such a stellar group of east coast fillies!

Do you really want to stack what she just beat up against the field in a California race, like the Clement Hirsch?

I'll take Swift Temper, Miss Isella, and a few of those over Anabaa's Creation and Lethal Heat.

NT

Without a doubt.

I'd be willing to take her (Icon Project) over Zenyatta....

As long as Marty can check his medicine cabinet on the flight to LA, I'd agree.

:)

NT

He won't need it - he's got a special set of shoes set aside for the BC.

Agree, at 1 1/4, What would happen if she faced Rachel? Shes clearly a stayer.

icon project wouldn't be getting her picture taken.

Didnt AllIcansayiswow and Lethal Heat finish a decent 2nd and 3rd against the boys in the Dela Mar Mile? They both faced Zenyatta in the past

I think Icon Project would beat Zenyatta on real dirt. Shes really a tigress on the dirt. Wow. She was far closer to the pace than usual today and even ran better. Wow.

Anyone notice that all of the big Grade 1's this summer at Saratoga have been complete blowouts? I cant recall a close finish.

Think back like 27 hours.

Eating Dinner? WTF

At 1 1/8 I agree with you. Im not so sure at the Classic Distance.

It was a Grade 2.

OMG....

KINGS BISHOP

The King's Bishop was not a blowout.

NT

Thats true, that was a good race. What do you think the margin of victory would have been if Vineyard Haven didnt swerve and knock the Candyman out of stride? 1-2 lengths?

I think VH wins, maybe a half?

Probably a length or so. Candyman never seems to pull away from anyone.

I think the argument that VH would have won if he didn't bear out is completely ludicrous.

NT

Castellano pulled the riding equivalent of faking the defender off his feet and then jumping into him from the 3 point line.

It figures that a MASTER HERDER, probably the best in the game, would also know how to properly 'defend' against it. Although, that's not quite true. Most jocks know how to do what he did. They just don't do it because it's dangerous; the same way they don't herd like Castellano because it's dangerous.

I'd say there's a difference between herding and repeated left-handed whipping to bear out. Garcia took it to an extreme and ended up creating a potentially dangerous situation.

Castellano pulled the equivalent of faking the defender off his feet and then having him fall into you and tackle you on the way down and then punch you as you lay prone.

It was an easy DQ and I can't possibly imagine how anyone would think CCC wasn't going to win that race without the interference.

NT

:rolleyes:

Thats the response I would expect.

Come on Nick. If Castellano doesn't stop the horse from being herded by Garcia by tugging on him righty and then sticking him righty, he never goes by in the lane. That's the affectiveness of herding: a horse gets carried out and goes with the flow.

At some point, Castellano will either kill another jock or himself. The stewards really need to take his **** seriously.

You really think Garcia will be amenable to 'doing the right thing' and allowing another jock to herd his horse after what Castellano did to him yesterday? After what it cost him? Doubtful. There's a protocol these guys follow and Castellano, who herds at will, went against it. I can only hope it's Castellano doing the herding when it happens.

lol

yeah, that's why everyone is ducking icon project, right? i know every day when i read bloodhorse, trainers are talking about trying to avoid icon project.

Danzig its not the point I was making. IP has now run 2 gigantic races and her other race they crawled up front over a speed favoring track. She is clearly a stayer, she has gone 1 1/2 on turf and ran well, she has freaked at 1 1/8 on dirt and now 1 1/4 on dirt. She has to be considered legit competition.

I'm not sure I get it, you're blaming Castellano for not allowing Garcia to herd him? When they got inside the eighth pole Garcia knew he had nothing and his only course of action was to try to initiate some contact. He did it- to an excess.

Castellano stayed straight on CCC as Garcia continued to carry him out. The last bump was just the icing on the cake, as the foul had been enough at that point to warrant a DQ.

NT

to rachel?? how many horses now have you said that about? it seems every horse that wins these days, you're immediately on here asking if they're the one to take down rachel. it's odd.

i hadn't replied to you much at all since your latest reappearance. i think i'll go back to that tactic.

2 horses.... QR and now her. I still beleive QR is that good. Rachel has done nothing at 1 1/4... Im sure she is just as good at the distance, but that does not take away from what IP has done. I think your being a bit unfair with the last 2 sentences. If you choose to do that, then fine. Im just discussing the horses.

I you watch enough headons you'll note that ALL JOCKS basically do nothing when they get herded. This is because forcing their horse to stay straight results in a collision. As a congenital HERDER, Castellano knows this, as he's been granted the benefit of the doubt countless times by other jocks. Watch the replay again: he initially allows his horse to drift, then, realizing what's happening, resists, first by straightening him out, then by sticking him righty. Well, Garcia is coming out and Castellano decides to GO IN. He knew exactly what would happen. There's no collision if he doesn't straighten and then actually have his horse come in (to meet the other).

I'm not saying there are no grounds for DQ. Just that if all jocks rode the way the Castellano did there'd be a lot more collisions and a lot more dead jocks.

Castellano is just a punk. Sooner or later, he'll get his. It's inevitable.

I understand that we have gotten pretty bored with watching Zenyatta run the same race over and over again but let's get a grip here. She's still VERY good. Icon Project ran a nice race today but she's not in Zenyatta's class. She's won one dirt race. Don't tell me about the NY Hcp. That was a field of grass horses running in the mud. She was coming off of a loss to Swift Temper. While Swift Temper is a decent horse, she's not in Zenyatta's class either.

I can't believe that in the last five minutes, I've read people making arguments that Past the Point could be a legit opponent for Rachel and that Icon Project can beat Zenyatta.

Do you think that if the Kentucky Oaks or the Mother Goose would have been another 1/8th of a mile, it would have really made a difference? If they had been, she might have won by 30 instead of just 20. Would you have doubted her chances if she had run in the Alabama?

Really? I thought you've been a regular here for more than ten minutes.

Point taken.

Garcia will get days for his ride on VH. He looked outside and saw CCM and kept at it with the left hand. He moved out repeatedly and the 2 horses were entangled for a step or two. There was no reason for such use of the left hand.