Grab the Rivalry and Run With It - By Eric Mitchell

aspradling — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:06:00 GMT

(Originally published in the July 30, 2011 issue of The Blood-Horse magazine. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions at the bottom of the column.)

By Eric Mitchell - @EJMitchellKy on Twitter

Another golden opportunity has been dropped into the lap of Thoroughbred racing.

A real rivalry; not one manufactured by publicists, but an honest, gritty, and scintillating rivalry the likes of which we haven’t seen since Personal Ensign and Winning Colors.

In truth, it is much better than the one between Personal Ensign and Winning Colors because they only raced against one another two times—in the Maskette Stakes (gr. I) and later in an unforgettable Breeders’ Cup Distaff (gr. I), in which Personal Ensign preserved her perfect record by a heart-stopping nose.

Havre de Grace and Blind Luck have now faced each other six times and each race has been a thriller. The running styles of these remarkable 4-year-old fillies only help to build the drama.

A daughter of Saint Liam—Easter Bunnette, by Carson City, Havre de Grace stalks the leaders and waits to pounce. Blind Luck, a daughter of Pollard’s Vision—Lucky One, by Best of Luck, drops to the back of the pack before kicking into a tremendous passing-gear drive in the stretch that leaves her rivals—and her owners and fans—stunned and dazzled at the wire.

In their first three contests against one another, Blind Luck won the Delaware Oaks (gr. II) by a nose and then the Betfair/TVG Alabama Stakes (gr. I) by a neck. Havre de Grace followed with a neck victory in the Fitz Dixon Cotillion Stakes (gr. II). They both competed in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (gr. I) last year, with Blind Luck finishing second and Havre de Grace third behind Unrivaled Belle.

This year the combatants have gone to battle against each other twice. Havre de Grace, who has won three of four starts in 2011, won the Azeri Stakes (gr. III) by 31⁄4 lengths over her archrival, and Blind Luck, who has won three times and been second three times in six starts, took the Delaware Handicap (gr. II) by a nose. Blind Luck has traveled cross-country from trainer Jerry Hollendorfer’s California base an unheard of nine times in the last 15 months. By the estimate of The Blood-Horse’s senior correspondent Steve Haskin, Blind Luck has traveled 36,000 miles.

Where are the T-shirts, the buttons, and the signs espousing racing fans’ loyalty to the Blind Luck or Havre de Grace racing camps? We sincerely hope they’re on order so they will be ready to ship the minute another showdown is announced.

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association has begun cranking up its public-relations machine for a campaign that will be guided by recent hire Stephen Panus, the NTRA’s new vice president of communications, according to Keith Chamblin, the organization’s senior vice president.

“It is on Stephen’s shortlist of projects between now and the Breeders’ Cup,” Chamblin said. “We are working with The Jockey Club through NTRA Communications to do a tale of the tape for both fillies on the website and compile other data and statistics that will be promoted to mainstream media. Outside of the Triple Crown, we have never seen a rivalry like this. We need to enjoy it while we have it and exploit it for the marketing while we have it.”

Breeders’ Cup has devoted a new section on its website entirely to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I), which could be fortuitous should Havre de Grace and Blind Luck opt for the $5 million Classic instead of the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. We don’t see too many challengers out there that would scare these two off from the main event, Nov. 5. Should they choose to stay in the Ladies’ Classic, it may be the more compelling race, so here’s hoping Breeders’ Cup finds the space to promote it heavily between now and November, particularly now that we’ve lost one of the dudes to injury. First Dude has been retired because of a strained tendon he suffered in a tremendous victory over Game On Dude in the Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I).

These unique stories and tremendous clashes between racing titans don’t come along often enough. Let’s rally  the sports world and build the next contests between
 Blind Luck and Havre de Grace into what they will be—historic, have-to-be-there, roaring, adrenaline-pumped battle royales.

Racing never needed this more than now.

Personal Memories of Personal Ensign

dliebman@bloodhorse.com — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:37:00 GMT

On the same day Zenyatta seeks to run her unbeaten streak to 16, words arrives of the death of Personal Ensign, who retired undefeated in 13 starts following one of the greatest races of all time.

Those who jump up and down about Zenyatta becoming the first to beat males in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I) have every right to beat the drum loudly. It was an incredible performance. But there is something deeply emotional about the type of race that not only stirs your inner passion when you witness it live but leads you to become more convinced of its greatness as each year flips by on the calendar.

Perhaps we know greatness when we see it, and history affords us the perspective to truly understand it. Perhaps we get older and wiser; maybe it is that the memory bank gets fuller so the truly great performances mean even more.

I saw greatness in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (gr. I), and over the years have come to appreciate it even more.

In fact when I watch the replay, obviously knowing the outcome, I still don’t think Randy Romero is going to pick Personal Ensign up and carry her to victory. She just can’t get there.

I can’t imagine there has ever been a more emotional and satisfying win for trainer Shug McGaughey, who counts many such moments in his career. Similarly, I can’t imagine there has even been a more gut-wrenching loss for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who like all trainers, has been on both ends of photo finishes.

Ogden Phipps homebred Personal Ensign was hopelessly beaten at the top of the stretch by Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Winning Colors on the muddy Churchill Downs surface Nov. 5, 1988, but her will to win was simply too great.

Of the dozen horses to run second to Personal Ensign (Winning Colors did so twice), two were champions and eight were grade I winners of a combined 19 grade I races during their careers (Personal Ensign won eight grade I races). Of the four to run second to her that failed to win a grade I race, one was a Canadian champion, two were grade III winners, and the other twice finished second in grade I races.

Amazingly, when few top runners also go on to become top producers—another Breeders’ Cup champion who fits the bill is Miesque—Personal Ensign produced three grade I winners including Breeders’ Cup winner My Flag, who in turn produced Breeders’ Cup winner Storm Flag Flying.

We recall the epic lunge of Personal Ensign (by Private Account) beating Winning Colors so vividly we forget poor ol’ Goodbye Halo, who was only a half-length back of those two. Goodbye Halo only won seven grade I races in her career including that year’s Kentucky Oaks, CCA Oaks, and Mother Goose Stakes.

Any list of the greatest Breeders’ Cup performances begins with Personal Ensign. As more time marches on, perhaps we will think differently. But not today.

(Want a hunch bet for April 10: Personal Ensign is the third dam of Toyota Blue Grass (gr. I) entrant Interactif.)

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Grab the Rivalry and Run With It - By Eric Mitchell

Personal Memories of Personal Ensign