Personal Ensign J

Only five distaffers have been entered to go the 10 furlongs of Friday's

Personal Ensign H. (G1) at Saratoga, and the event appears, on paper on least,

to be a two-horse race. BALLETTO (UAE) (Timber Country) and FLEET INDIAN (Indian

Charlie), who have opposite running styles, are a class above the rest of their

rivals, and we're going with the former to take her first win since October

of 2004.

A bout of colic forced Balletto into early retirement last summer, but her quick recovery

from surgery had her connections rethinking their

decision. They brought their 2004 Frizette S. (G1) winner back in March, and

the chestnut miss showed plenty of rustiness, finishing fourth while only

earning an 82 BRIS Speed rating. Since then, though, the Tom Albertrani-trained

lass has shown marked improvement, running second in the Shuvee H. (G2) and

third Ogden Phipps H. (G1). Balletto was well back of the winner, Take d' Tour

(Tour d'Or), in those two events, but the experiences were exactly what she

needed, as she demonstrated last out in the Go for Wand H. (G1).

Racing in last early, the four-year-old put in a game stretch run on the outside,

making up ground with every stride, and just ran out of room in the nine-furlong

test to miss by a nose at the wire. Suddenly, we were seeing the Balletto of

old, as she garnered a 111 Speed figure, 113 BRIS E2 Pace rating and a 103 BRIS

Late Pace number. Javier Castellano has been aboard in all but her very first

start back, and the pair could finally find themselves together in the winner's

circle at the end of this one.

Fleet Indian is the possible lone speed in this field and could easily lead from gate to

wire under Jose Santos. The Todd Pletcher charge has captured her past six

races, including the Next Move H. (G3), Sixty Sails H. (G3) and Delaware H. (G2)

by a combined 19 lengths, and has earned century-topping Speed ratings in all

four of her starts this year. Our only knock against the dark bay five-year-old,

and one of the reasons we're placing her second, is that she hasn't been able to

hit the board in two starts at Saratoga. Those races did occur before she

transferred to Pletcher's barn, but Fleet Indian just might not like the track.

She'll probably prove us completely wrong in this one, but we're going to take a

chance and just use her to fill out the exacta.

YOLANDA B. TOO (Two Punch) is still looking for her first stakes win. The

four-year-old filly captured two allowance/optional claimers pretty easily at

Belmont during the summer, earning a 105 Speed rating for one of them, and then

ran second by a length to last year's Kentucky Oaks (G1) queen, Summerly (Summer

Squall), in the Ashado S. last out. Though we don't think the Richard Violette

Jr. trainee is quite on the same level as the top two, she still looks better

than the rest of the field. Garrett Gomez has the call.

SOUL SEARCH (A.P. Indy) could show some improvement while returning to the

main track. The Neil Howard charge ran eighth in a Churchill Downs turf

allowance, captured the same condition at that track while racing on the dirt

next out, and was then last seen finishing fifth in yet another turf test at

Churchill, this time an allowance/optional claimer. Soul Search has shown her

best on the main track and could upset Yolanda B. Too for the show spot with a

career-best run under John Velazquez.

INDIA HALO (Arg) (Halo Sunshine) is another who will be returning to her

preferred surface after a stint on the grass. However, the six-year-old mare's

numbers on both surfaces seem to indicate she could be out of her depth here.

With only five runners in this event, she'll get a share of the purse no matter

what, but we don't see her being a factor during the actual running.