Midnight Bisou on track to repeat in Personal Ensign
By: Nicolle Neulist, Blinkers-Off
Midnight Bisou, last year’s divisional leader, is just as good this year. She ran a good second against good males in the Saudi Cup (G1) back in February, then returned in June to win the Fleur de Lis (G2) at Churchill as easily as she pleased. Never has a horse won a Breeders’ Cup berth so easily as she did that day. She should get her usual sort of trip, stalking just off the pace and running down the leaders in the lane. She has mile and an eighth stamina, she can handle the course (she won this race last year, after all!), and it will be tough to deny her again.
Who will Midnight Bisou have to run down in the lane? The most likely pacesetter is probably Motion Emotion, who comes in off a longshot second in the Fleur de Lis last out. A plucky tryer, she has yet to win a graded stakes, but she has three placings. Though, she is better suited going shorter than this mile and an eighth, which is a concern given a few of the others she will be facing.
Abounding Joy should also be part of the pace; she may not outjump Motion Emotion but won’t be far away. She tries graded company for the first time, meaning she gets a class test in the Personal Ensign. She comes into this race off a breakout effort in the Iowa Distaff on July 4, though now has to stretch from a mile and a sixteenth to a mile and an eighth for the first time. Furthermore, she has to shatter her career-best to be a factor in this.
Bossy Bride may situate herself near the lead, though she also has the versatility to sit midfield if necessary. She comes in from a smart victory at Belmont on July 10: but that came in the slop, and that came against $50,000 starter allowance horses. A jump from that to any sort of black-type debut would be a step forward. A jump from that to a Grade 1 race is a momentous thing to ask. It makes a certain sort of sense: the field is short, so why not take a shot at a third-place finish and some graded black type? But, without a massive leap forward from any of her previous races, or a few marquee contenders waking up on the wrong side of their hay nets, Bossy Bride is probably too slow.
Vexatious likely sits midfield, though she could sit a bit closer if the race unfolds a little slowly. She has been an honest, interesting type throughout her career, a graded stakes filly on both turf and dirt. Her last effort was a solid second in the Ruffian (G2) behind another leading light, Monomoy Girl. That was over a one-turn mile, but the step up in distance should suit her just fine. After all, one of the best races she has ever run came last year, in a mile and an eighth race at the Spa, in which she kept on to finish second by a neck behind eventual Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Blue Prize.
The one real closer in the field is Point of Honor. She has both the class and the mile-and-an-eighth stamina to be a serious contender. Her two starts at Saratoga so far have both been good, second-place finishes in Grade 1 races last year. The question for her is pace since she would be better suited by some more pace up front: and, perhaps, not having to run down a horse like Midnight Bisou. After all, though Point of Honor is very good, she has yet to prove that she is great.
All in all, it seems too cute to try and beat Midnight Bisou in the Personal Ensign; her consistency and her affinity for the distance make her stand out. Though, for those who are playing exotics, the one to lean most heavily on is Vexatious. She is a consistent and pace-versatile horse, the stretch out to a mile and an eighth helps her out more than the also-forwardly-placed Motion Emotion, and she doesn’t have the pace questions of Point of Honor.
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