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Persistence pays off in Personal Ensign
As the field entered the stretch, Rachel Alexandra finally shook loose from a tiring Life at Ten and began what most spectators expected to be her triumphant march home under jockey Calvin Borel. Another jockey had other plans, though. Alan Garcia had been reserving Persistently to the outside of Miss Singhsix throughout but asked for all she had in the lane. Persistently responded, digging in to catch up with a visibly weary Rachel Alexandra and, finally, just pull in front in the final yards to score by a length on the wire. The chestnut lass, who prior to Sunday had yet to earn a stakes victory, finished up the 1 1/4-mile, fast-track test in 2:04 2/5. "Obviously with a filly like Rachel Alexandra in the race, we knew we were a longshot," trainer Shug McGaughey said. "But we did think she'd run a mile and a quarter. It was Mr. Phipps' decision. He said to me, 'If it's going to be a short field; I'd like to give it a try.' The only time she had ever run two turns on the dirt was when she won here earlier in the meet. It's one of those things that pays off. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. But today it did. I felt like something was going to be going on up front, and I just wanted (Garcia) to let the race unfold as it did and just kind of be there if she had a chance. "I thought that (Rachel Alexandra) might be a little vulnerable going a mile and a quarter, and I knew we'd run a mile and a quarter. Her female family runs a long way. "We're just tickled to death to win the race, particularly with it being the Personal Ensign. My hat's off to Rachel Alexandra. She runs her heart out every time. She made a beautiful presence in the paddock today. We were just lucky enough to pick up the pieces." Garcia admitted he was hoping to pick up the pieces at the end of the race. "Early on I was talking to the jockey next to me (Jose Valdivia Jr. on Miss Singhsix), and I said, 'We are good -- we are good. Be patient and if those two fillies give it up at the quarter-pole, we both have a good shot.' My filly was running at the end. I asked her for everything she had, and she gave it to me. "This was a big victory in my career," he added. "I can't even begin to explain the emotions -- to beat the Horse of the Year, at Saratoga -- it was amazing." Persistently was sent off the 21-1 second longest shot in the field to return $45, $8.10 and $3.60. Rachel Alexandra, the heavy 2-5 favorite, gave back $2.30 and $2.10 while ending the $94 exacta. "After we put away Life at Ten at the quarter-pole, I didn't feel any acceleration and I got worried," Borel said. "She wasn't really there. I knew if anyone was running behind us, we were in trouble." He went on to sum it up pretty well. "She just got outrun. I had everything my way, and she just got outrun. If you can't take the losing with the winning, you can't be in the game." "The winner won the race and I don't want to take anything away from that," said Steve Asmussen, who trains Rachel Alexandra. "In a five-horse field, you can't complain about where you are. It is what it is. I thought (Rachel) put a very good mare (Life at Ten) away. It obviously took more out of her on the front end than we would have hoped for. When she moved away from (Life at Ten) that's what you were hoping to see. Then she got run down late. "Her (next race) will be up to (co-owner) Mr. (Jess) Jackson and I will speak with him. We want to evaluate who we are and who she is and where she's at. We're just worried about her well-being." "We are disappointed in the result, as we are sure her countless fans are, but we are certainly not disappointed in her," Jackson released in a statement following the race. "She is still a superstar in our hearts and minds. The old sports adage applies...on any given Sunday, anything can happen." Life at Ten finished another 10 1/4 lengths back in third, but was much the best of the rest, 5 1/4 lengths in front of Miss Singhsix. The 9-5 second choice was worth $2.10 and completed the 3-2-4 trifecta that paid $228. Classyofsixtythree brought up the rear, 14 1/2 lengths behind Miss Singhsix. "That was a speed duel," stated John Velazquez, who piloted Life at Ten. "I thought my filly would be on the lead, (Borel) would rate in second, but he sent her out and got in the lead and all that did was create more problems for my horse because now she was engaged. But I wasn't going to take her back; I just left her alone. I wasn't going to go back either, so I just held my position and left it alone. The half-mile pole came and I thought she was dead and then the three-eighths pole came and she was done. Nothing left." Persistently may have never won against stakes company before Sunday, but the four-year-old is no stranger to graded competition. She broke her maiden in her second career try at Saratoga as a juvenile in 2008, then followed up with a pair of seconds in the Matron S. (G2) and Frizette S. (G1) at Belmont Park. The chestnut ended her two-year-old campaign with a fifth in that year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), and only raced twice as a sophomore, placing in both attempts. She's had a much more productive season this year, racking up a 6-2-1-2 line against allowance types, and made her return to stakes competition a winning one here. Persistently now boasts an overall record of 14-4-4-4 and has earned $491,256. The Kentucky-bred filly is the second registered foal out of the winning Just Reward (Deputy Minister), who has since produced an unraced juvenile colt named Minister's Reward (Came Home), a yearling filly called Double Jackpot (Broken Vow) and a 2010 colt by Henrythenavigator. Just Reward is herself a daughter of champion Heavenly Prize (Seeking the Gold), who captured eight Grade 1s during her career, and counts as half-siblings Grade 1 king Good Reward and Grade 2 victor Pure Prize, both successful sires by Storm Cat. Persistently's star-studded family continues in her unraced third dam, Oh What a Dance (Nijinsky II), who foaled such stalwarts as Grade 1 heroine Oh What a Windfall (Seeking the Gold) and Grade 1 runner-up Dancinginmydreams (Seeking the Gold). The former would go on in the breeding shed to produced Grade 2-placed runners Pick Six (Dynaformer) and Conservative (Unbridled's Song). Dancinginmydreams did one better than that with Dancing Forever (Rahy), who captured the 2008 Manhattan H. (G1) and ran third in that same year's Breeders' Cup Turf (G1). If one keeps going, one will find Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Dancing Spree (Nijinsky II), champion Lady Pitt (Sword Dancer), as well as Grade/Group 1 scorers Furlough (Easy Goer), Fantastic Find (Mr. Prospector), Finder's Fee (Storm Cat), We Can Seek (Chi) (Seeker's Reward), The Liberal Member (Bold Reason) and King of Clubs (GB) (Mill Reef) in this same line.
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