Malathaat back to winning ways in Personal Ensign

Malathaat carried the Shadwell silks when beating a star-studded field of fillies and mares to win the Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday. Runner-up Search Results and third-placed Letruska, both high-class performers on their day, had no answer to her irresistible late run.

It was the four-year-old’s fourth career Grade 1 victory after the Ashland Stakes, Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes last year. She was returning to peak form after finishing second in the Ogden Phipps Stakes and Shuvee Stakes earlier this season.

Malathaat’s hall of fame trainer Todd Pletcher said: “It’s all about seeing her perform to her capabilities and with all due respect to the rest of the field, we always feel like when she shows up and runs her A race, that she’s the top four-year-old filly in the country and I think she showed that.”

Malathaat was bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings and is by world champion and top sire Curlin out of Dreaming Of Julia, a Grade 1-winning daughter of breed-shaper A.P. Indy. Dreaming Of Julia’s dam Dream Rush was also a top-level scorer.