Vexatious Upsets Midnight Bisou in Personal Ensign
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Vexatious turns back Midnight Bisou to win the Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
There may not have been any fans, just a smattering of horsemen and licensed owners.
Only a couple of concession stands were open, and despite the gorgeous weather, there was none of the buzz and electricity that could always be felt on Whitney Stakes Day at historic Saratoga Race Course.
Yet not even the COVID-19 pandemic could change one of the Spa's most famous traditions.
The Graveyard of Champions was indeed open for business Aug. 1 as Calumet Farm's Vexatious staged a classic Spa upset by outdueling champion mare and 3-10 favorite Midnight Bisou to win the $485,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1).
"It's a great win, whether it's at Belmont Park or Belterra Park. It's our first win at Saratoga, so it's cool that it's a grade 1 with the history behind the race," said trainer Jack Sisterson, a longtime assistant to Doug O'Neill who claimed his first grade 1 win since opening his own stable in 2018. "We always thought she had a big win in her, and all credit (goes) to (her). She always tries 110%."
The win, which earned Vexatious a Breeders' Cup Challenge spot in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), was not without some element of controversy. As Vexatious and jockey Jose Lezcano were battling to stave off Midnight Bisou, they came out about two paths near the eighth pole to move within inches of their rival. As the two mares raced side-by-side and appeared to brush lightly with 40 yards left, Vexatious refused to let Midnight Bisou go by.
The move prompted Ricardo Santana Jr. (who was subbing for Mike Smith on Midnight Bisou due to coronavirus restrictions) to claim foul, and the stewards called for an inquiry that ultimately left the result unchanged.
Replays showed little contact between the two distaff runners, but that, of course, was a matter of perspective.
"We could have gone around one more time and I still would have been in front with my filly," Lezcano said.
Sisterson was nervous but said, "I didn't think (Vexatious) jeopardized Midnight Bisou's chances of winning the race. She had every chance to go by and couldn't."
Majority owner Jeff Bloom of Bloom Racing Stable said the incident affected Midnight Bisou's momentum at a crucial stage of the race.
"I think it definitely caused a shift in momentum," said Bloom, who owns the 2019 champion older dirt female in a partnership with Allen Racing and Madaket Stables. "The more I watched the replays, the more I thought we had a chance (to move up via disqualification). If you watch the head-on (replay), that horse came over and she got bumped at a point where a horse is just starting to dig in and collect themselves."
For Vexatious, a 6-year-old daughter of Giant's Causeway, it was her first grade 1 victory and first victory of any type since Oct. 21, 2018, when she was declared the winner of the Rood and Riddle Dowager Stakes (G3T). She snapped a streak of nine losses, though her previous start was a highly promising second to another champion, Monomoy Girl, in the July 11 Ruffian Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park.
Out of the Siberian Summer mare Dream of Summer, a California-bred winner of the 2005 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1), Vexatious was bred by James Weigel and the Giant's Causeway Syndicate and bought by the BBA (Ireland) for $150,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
She now has four wins in 23 starts with earnings of $723,985.
Midnight Bisou, a daughter of Midnight Lute who was bidding for back-to-back Personal Ensign wins, lost for just the ninth time in 22 starts. A 13-time winner, she has never been worse than third and has earnings of $7,471,520.
"Does this tarnish her legacy?" Bloom responded to a post-race question. "I mean, look at her resume. She's never been out of the money once. She just missed winning this race. It would have been nice if it went our way, but it didn't. She's a remarkable filly, and she has a lot of fun stuff ahead of her."
Vexatious ($21) was second behind the pace-setting Motion Emotion in the field of five after an opening half-mile in :48.36. But midway on the turn of the 1 1/8-mile stakes, Midnight Bisou moved into third, almost alongside Vexatious, and from there they spurted clear to the wire.
The final time on a fast track was 1:48.82.
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Stetson Racing's Point of Honor, the 7-2 second choice, was third, 6 1/4 lengths behind Midnight Bisou.