Malathaat Rockets to Personal Ensign Score

Everywhere you look around the barn at Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, you see championship caliber horses.

Look over there, and you'll see Life Is Good , one of the best older horses in training. A few stalls down and you can take a gander at Nest , the top 3-year-old filly in the land. Keep exploring, and you'll catch glimpses of horses such as Charge It  and Mind Control  and Happy Saver  and Dynamic One .

All of them could make someone's equine all-star team. But a darling in the stable is the determined 4-year-old filly Malathaat .

"We love this filly so much in the barn," Pletcher said. "We want everyone to appreciate her as much as we do."

After the $558,000 Personal Ensign (G1) was done Aug. 27 at Saratoga Race Course, that mission was certainly accomplished.

Malathaat, coming off a not-so-impressive run in the Shuvee Stakes (G2) at the Spa July 24, got back to her winning ways with a half-length victory in the 1 1/8-mile race, one of five grade 1 races on Saturday's blockbuster 13-race card.

Owned by Shadwell Stable, the daughter of Curlin   won for the eighth time in 12 starts and improved her bankroll to $2,378,825. 

Ridden by John Velazquez, Malathaat defeated the Chad Brown-trained Search Results , a repeat of the finish of the 2021 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs. In that race, Malathaat won by a neck.

"It was very, very nice to see her come back to prove how good a horse she really is," Velazquez said. "We know she's a good horse. It's hard to tell why she was so dull last time."

What made Pletcher talk with pride on this late summer afternoon at Saratoga was the way Malathaat rebounded from that race earlier in the meet. She had not been herself that hot and hazy day in Shuvee.

Temperatures were in the 90s that day, and Malathaat was having none of that.

"She was very irritated and clammy," Pletcher said. "Not herself."

When the Shuvee was over, Malathaat was beaten by 1 1/2 lengths by her nemesis, Clairiere . Pletcher knew he would see better from his favorite. The 34-day wait was worth it. 

"I was disappointed in the (Shuvee) outcome, but not in her," Pletcher said. "She is a little bit of a hard read because she is a very quiet, subdued filly."

In the Personal Ensign, Malathaat was her old self. She and Velazquez ran down Search Results in midstretch to emphatically stamp her return. Search Results, a daughter of Flatter   owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, had taken over when she got past pacesetter Letruska  in early stretch.

"She ran great," Brown said of his 4-year-old filly. "Flavien (jockey Prat) gave her an outstanding ride, and she just got beat by a slightly better horse today. She ran her heart out. I said it was important to use Letruska as a target. I was very confident she would go by Letruska at some point during the race, and I said (to Prat) that you would have to hold off either Malathaat or Clairiere, and, as it turned out, it was Malathaat."

Velazquez had plenty of horse for the sprint home, and Malathaat, equipped with blinkers for the second straight race, didn't let him down.

"When I pulled her out at the three-sixteenths pole and asked her," Velazquez said, "she was in the game."

The Personal Ensign was the second win in four starts this year and the first since she took the Baird Doubledogdare Stakes (G3) at Keeneland April 22.

She had lost her last two starts, the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park June 11 and the Shuvee to Clairiere.

"It was all about seeing her perform to her capabilities," Pletcher said. "All due respect to the entire field, we always feel that when she shows up and runs her 'A' race, she is the top 4-year-old filly in the country. She showed that today."

Malathaat went off as the 3-1 fourth choice in the field of five. She ran the distance in 1:48.30 and returned $8.40.

Clairiere, the 8-5 favorite, charged the gate twice before the start and appeared to hit her head. She was never a factor and finished last. Trainer Steve Asmussen said later that the daughter of Curlin, owned by Stonestreet Stable, was cooling out well.

"She obviously had an excuse, not being involved early," Pletcher said, but then, getting back to his horse, said, "this was her best race of the year. This was a good sign."

The 6-year-old Letruska, last year's Eclipse Award winner for older dirt female, set slow fractions of :23.99, :48.21, and 1:11.74 before weakening to third, six lengths ahead of Phoenix Thoroughbred III's Crazy Beautiful .

Video: Personal Ensign S. (G1)