Three Generation Breeders' Cup Heroines

Three Generation Breeders’ Cup Heroines

 Joseph Di Rienzi

The Breeders’ Cup World Championship series of races dates from 1984. In its history, there have been many bloodline connections among the honor roll of victors. There have been Breeders’ Cup winning horses siring future Breeders’ Cup champions and female Breeders’ Cup heroines producing future winners. However, so far, there has been only one female line that has engendered three generations of distaff victors. The Personal Ensign – My Flag – Storm Flag Flying triumvirate is remarkable not only in its achievement but in that all three females were bred and owned by the Phipps family and trained by Shug McGaughey.

Personal Ensign, the matriarch of this tri-generational bloodline, was one of the greatest distaff runners of the 20^th century. A stately bay by Private Account out of the mare Grecian Banner, she by Hoist the Flag, Personal Ensign was a particular favorite of owner Ogden Phipps. In her only starts as a juvenile in 1986, she won a maiden race at Saratoga Racetrack and then scored a narrow victory in the Frizette Stakes at Belmont Park. In preparing for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, Personal Ensign suffered an injury to her right hind ankle requiring surgery and the insertion of five screws which threatened her racing future. Personal Ensign would return in the fall of 1987. In four starts as a sophomore, she won the Rare Perfume and Beldame Stakes to keep her unbeaten record intact at six for six.

Personal Ensign had a more extensive campaign as a four-year-old in 1988 than in her previous two racing seasons. She came into her final start, the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, still undefeated with victories in the Shuvee, Hempstead, Molly Pitcher and Whitney (against males) Handicaps, as well as the Maskette and Beldame Stakes (this for the second time).

The Breeders’ Cup Distaff run that year at Churchill Downs was one of the most anticipated races of the 1988 Breeders’ Cup. Unbeaten in 12 starts, Personal Ensign would put her streak to a test against Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors, Kentucky Oaks victor Goodbye Halo, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, Epitome, and five others. Personal Ensign was the overwhelming favorite, but the concern in the Phipps stable camp was the condition of the racecourse. Because of her injury two years ago, her connections were adverse to training or racing Personal Ensign on wet surfaces. As the fates would have it, the track on Breeders’ Cup Day was indeed muddy from persistent rain.

The race itself was one of the most dramatic in thoroughbred history and has been replayed endlessly, never ceasing to amaze. As expected, Winning Colors under Gary Stevens bounded to a clear lead followed by Goodbye Halo. Personal Ensign was in mid-pack early and did not seem to be running comfortably over the gooey going. Around the far turn, Winning Colors increased her lead as Goodbye Halo gave chase. Steering his mount to the outside to secure better footing, jockey Randy Romero had Personal Ensign in fourth place some 6 lengths from the lead as the field straightened out for the stretch drive. Goodbye Halo was gaining slowly on Winning Colors, but the Derby winner’s victory seemed likely until Personal Ensign changed leads in mid-stretch and closed dramatically with a will that only true champions can muster. At the finish, Personal Ensign thrust her nose on the line in front of Winning Colors who herself was a ½ length in front of Goodbye Halo. This almost unbelievable ending to a perfect race career guaranteed Personal Ensign honors as Eclipse Champion Older Female. Her performance reminded us all of the courage, class and determination in the best of the thoroughbred breed.

Personal Ensign (on left) winning the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff
(bloodhorse.com)

Personal Ensign became a foundational mare in the breeding shed at Claiborne Farm in Paris, KY. She produced major stakes winners Miner’s Mark, Traditionally and My Flag. Personal Ensign also produced stakes placed Our Emblem who was the sire of 2002 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner War Emblem. It was My Flag who carried the Breeders’ Cup torch forward. Foaled in 1993, she was the product of two of the best horses to carry the cherry red and black silks of owner Ogden Phipps – Easy Goer and Personal Ensign.

The lanky chestnut, who more resembled her sire than her dam, broke her maiden as a juvenile at first asking at Belmont Park, but she then finished fourth in the Schuylerville and third in a Saratoga allowance race. Stepped up to top competition in the 1 mile Matron Stakes at Belmont Park, My Flag produced a mild rally from last position to finish third to juvenile filly division leader Golden Attraction and her Wayne Lukas trained stablemate Cara Rafaela, beaten a total of 5½ lengths. In the 8½ furlong Frizette Stakes (also at Belmont), Golden Attraction was the strong favorite to continue her domination, and she held sway by ¾ of length over My Flag, who outfitted with blinkers to keep her focused, rallied from last in the five horse field. The diminished margin from the Matron Stakes indicated that the daughter of Easy Goer was improving with racing and would be a threat to her rival in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies over the same track and identical 8½ furlong distance.

Breeders’ Cup Day in 1995 had typical late October weather on Long Island, N.Y. Overnight rains and morning showers left the Belmont track carrying a lot of water, but the dirt surface was rated good. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies attracted only eight runners, but it had presumptive champion Golden Attraction, and her recent closest pursuers, Cara Rafaela and My Flag. Wayne Lukas also had a third entry in Typically Irish the winner of the Oak Leaf Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

In the early stages of the race, the entry mates occupied the first three positions with Golden Attraction leading Cara Rafaela and Typically Irish. My Flag was out of the gate in last place, but not so far back as in her previous starts. As the field went around the single turn, Typically Irish dropped out of contention and Cara Rafaela came up the rail to challenge her stable mate. Jockey Jerry Bailey had My Flag moving up on the inside drafting behind the two leaders. At the top of the stretch, Golden Attraction looked to be holding off Cara Rafaela, but that changed as the latter forged to the lead mid-stretch. My Flag initially seemed to have too much distance to make up, but, when switched to the outside, she closed dramatically to catch and pass Cara Rafaela in the shadow of the finish for a ½ length victory. Finishing third, 1½ lengths back was Golden Attraction who tired in the closing stages. 

My Flag (in middle) winning the 1995 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
(photo: bloodhorse.com)

History was made by My Flag’s victory, in that she was the first offspring of a Breeders’ Cup winning dam to have Breeders’ Cup glory. (The story would not be completed on this family legacy as we shall see shortly.) This victory also made up some of the disappointment for My Flag’s sire Easy Goer’s two second place finishes in Breeders’ Cup races.

In 1996 My Flag had a strong three-year-old campaign winning the Bonnie Miss Stakes, Ashland Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks and Gazelle Handicap. She missed out on garnering a championship when she finished fourth in the Breeder’s Cup Distaff. After a brief winless campaign in 1997 as a four-year-old, she joined her dam Personal Ensign in the broodmare barn at Claiborne. As a producer, My Flag was not as prolific as her predecessor, but she did produce a stakes placed filly in On Parade and a minor stakes winner in With Flying Colors. However, her pièce de résistance was Storm Flag Flying, a 2000 foal by Storm Cat. 

A lithe bay or brown, Strom Flag Flying was owned by Ogden Mills Phipps (son of Ogden Phipps). Making her first start in a 6 furlong race at Saratoga on August 18, 2002, she showed inexperience but rallied strongly from off the pace to win by a length. Shug McGaughey, in an uncharacteristic move for him, next stepped Storm Flag Flying up in class in the 1 mile Matron Stakes in which she destroyed her field winning by nearly 13 lengths. Facing stiffer competition in the 8½ furlong Frizette Stakes in the presence of West Coast invader Santa Catarina, Storm Flag Flying tracked the Bob Baffert trainee most of the race. Taking the lead, under John Velazquez, in the stretch, she was under a hand ride to draw clear by 2 lengths. Santa Catarina was second some 11¼ lengths in front of third finishing Appleby Gardens. An indication of the quality of the performance was that Storm Flag Flying’s final time in the Frizette was faster than the male juveniles ran the identical distance in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont later that same day.

With the Breeders’ Cup races at Arlington Park, just outside of Chicago, IL this year, the juvenile races were lengthened to 9 furlongs due to the configuration of the racetrack. The Juvenile Fillies had a ten horse field headed by the odds-on favorite Storm Flag Flying. Her main competition was presumed to come from the Bob Baffert trained entry of Composure and Santa Catrina. After the start, longshot Humorous Lady opened a clear lead followed by Storm Flag Flying, Santa Catarina and Composure. Nearing the far turn, Santa Catrina went up to challenge the leader temporarily putting Storm Flag Flying between her and Composure on the inside. John Velazquez swung Storm Flag Flying to the outside of Santa Catrina around the stretch turn and forged to the lead. But as she did so, Composure, under Mike Smith, surged three wide and actually gained the advantage over Storm Flag Flying in mid-stretch. But the Phipps filly fought back, as only champions can, and she re-captured the lead. At the finish, she edged clear over Composure by a ½ length with Santa Catrina some 9¾ lengths back. With Storm Flag Flying’s dramatic comeback maintaining her unbeaten record at four for four, she was overwhelmingly voted the Eclipse Two-Year-Old Filly Champion.

Storm Flag Flying winning the 2002 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies
(breederscup.com)

Storm Flag Flying had a futile three-year-old campaign in 2003. After finishing second in the Comely Stakes in April and unplaced in the Acorn Stakes in June, it was revealed she suffered a small fracture of her right cannon bone that prevented her from racing the rest of the year. Storm Flag Flying returned strong as a four-year-old in 2004 winning the Shuvee and Personal Ensign Handicaps and finishing an unlucky second in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff to conclude her racing career. Her death in 2016, brings an end to this Breeders’ Cup legacy as none of Storm Flag Flying’s foals have been good enough to compete in the Breeders’ Cup. 

So this narrative ends with the memories of these three special females who were able to pass on their genetic abilities to their respective offspring and achieve the highest success on three Breeders’ Cup days.    

The 1960 Classics

The 1960 Classics
Joseph Di Rienzi

I would like to look back 60 years to the Triple Crown series of 1960 to highlight the differences and similarities between thoroughbred racing in the U. S. then and now. In this drama, the major actors will be equines Bally Ache, Venetian Way, Celtic Ash and Tompion with cameo appearances from Warfare and Victoria Park. I will also briefly mention the respective human characters who played supportive roles.

Warfare was a hulking coal gray son of 1954 Kentucky Derby winner Determine that began racing in 1959 as a two-year-old in California. Traveling east in the fall, he swept the major juvenile races winning the Cowdin, Champagne and Garden State Stakes, thereby earning his age’s male championship and the early favoritism for the 1960 Kentucky Derby. Warfare’s fellow California based rival, Tompion, was bred to be a champion by owner C. V. Whitney. Trained throughout his career by Robert L. Wheeler, Tompion was a handsome seal brown colt by the illustrious Tom Fool from a mare sired by Triple Crown hero Count Fleet. Despite a stamina laden pedigree, Tompion made his initial start on January 9, 1959 in a 3 furlong race at Santa Anita Park, finishing fourth but put third after a disqualification. After a second place finish (Warfare was third) in the Hollywood Juvenile Championship Stakes, Tompion was sent to Saratoga Springs, NY. He assumed the pro-tem leadership of the two-year-old division with a come from behind win in the Hopeful Stakes. However, after defeats in the aforementioned Cowdin, Champagne and Garden State Stakes to Warfare, Tompion was regarded as the year’s second best juvenile.

Other promising two-year-olds of 1959 included Leonard Fruchtman’s Bally Ache. On the other end of the breeding spectrum from Warfare and Tompion, Bally Ache was a son of the modest stallion Ballydam out of the equally undistinguished dam Celestial Blue. He was able to outrun his breeding in any way it could be measured. Trained by H. J. “Jimmy” Pitt, Bally Ache, just as Tompion did, started the year in 3 furlong “baby” races (at Hialeah Park) and would race in just about all the major juvenile races in the East and Midwest culminating in the champion making Garden State Stakes in which he finished a close second to Warfare. Midwestern based Venetian Way was a bright chestnut with a broad blaze. Owned by Sunny Blue Farm, the son of Royal Coinage had won 4 of 9 juvenile starts and had bested Bally Ache in the Washington Park Futurity. Finally, Windfields Farm’s Victoria Park, the champion juvenile colt in Canada, impressed late in the year with a victory at Aqueduct Racetrack in the Remsen Stakes.

At the start of 1960, the major Triple Crown contenders were based on opposite coasts, namely in Florida and California.  As a testimony to his hardiness, Bally Ache started the year early with victories in the Hibiscus and Bahamas Stakes at Hialeah. He was upset by Victoria Park in a prep race for the Flamingo Stakes in which the Canadian champion broke the 8½ furlong track record. E. P. Taylor, the Toronto industrialist who owned and developed Windfields Farm into a juggernaut, would extend his influence to United States racing and breeding in a few years, and this venture by Victoria Park was in many ways a dress reversal for what was yet to come. In the Flamingo Stakes, Bally Ache under his now regular rider in Robert Ussery assumed an early lead and never looked back defeating Victoria Park by 3½ lengths.

Using the Fountain of Youth Stakes as a prep for the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, Bally Ache could not hold off Eagle Admiral who was the recipient of a significant weight allowance. In the Florida Derby, the threat to Bally Ache’s Florida supremacy would not come from Eagle Admiral but from Venetian Way trained by Victor Sovinski. The chestnut was a little slower to come to hand as a three-year-old but really challenged the front ranks in the Florida Derby. He wrested the lead from Bally Ache in the stretch and appeared on his way to victory when Bally Ache in a vivid display of his determination fought back along the inside to win by a nose.

Over the winter, there was a change in leadership in the three-year-old division. Warfare, finished second in an allowance race at Santa Anita but came out of the race with an injury. He had an abortive campaign to get ready for the classics. Shipping to New York to win the Swift Stakes at Aqueduct, Warfare reinjured himself and was forced into retirement. Tompion had finished second in the San Miguel Stakes but won an allowance prior to the Santa Anita Derby impressively and was thought to be on the verge of fulfilling his lofty reputation. The favorite in the Santa Anita Derby, however, was the lightly raced but somewhat erratic Flow Line who had won the San Felipe Stakes easily. In the 9 furlong race, Tompion showed his class and his ability at longer distances as he easily won in fast time under William Shoemaker. Flow Line was rank from the start and so difficult to handle around the turns that he was eventually eased up into last place.

In April Tompion confirmed his form at Keeneland Racecourse when he won the 7 furlong Forerunner Purse and defeated Victoria Park convincingly in the Blue Grass Stakes just 9 days before the Derby. Bally Ache also added to his credentials with another conquest of Venetian Way in the 7 furlong Stepping Stone Purse at Churchill Downs a week before the Run for the Roses. 

The 86^th edition of the Kentucky Derby appeared to have two standouts in the 13 entries, Tompion and Bally Ache, representing West and East Coast racing and two acolytes, Venetian Way and Victoria Park. Tompion went off as the nearly even money favorite off his breeding, reputation and recent good form, but there was also strong support for Bally Ache because of his consistency and determination. The track conditions may have played a significant part in the outcome. Somewhat wet from earlier rains, the under footing was not the type Tompion could get a hold of, subsequently, he was a non-factor in finishing fourth. In addition he returned with a hoof injury after losing a shoe in the race. This running of the Kentucky Derby was reminiscent of the Florida Derby with two exceptions as Venetian Way, under rider Bill Hartack, tracked Bally Ache most of the way around the Churchill Downs oval. One is that Venetian Way defeated Bally Ache, and second the result was by a definitive 3½ lengths. Victoria Park would finish third representing, at the time, the best effort of a Canadian bred in the Derby. 

Venetian Way winning the 1960 Kentucky Derby
(UPI Telephoto)

The dust had not quite settled in Kentucky when Bally Ache appeared at Pimlico Racetrack a week later in an allowance race unofficially known as the Preakness Prep. He won that race handily and proceeded to the Preakness with a lot of confidence in his handlers’ eyes. The big news before the Preakness was the sale of Bally Ache to a group called Turfland which included his previous sole owner Leonard Fruchtman for at that time an astounding $1,250,000.

Tompion, nursing his hoof, sat out the Preakness Stakes. In a sign of what would be to come in thoroughbred racing, Venetian Way raced in the Derby on the drug phenylbutazone, a pain reducer, which was legal in Kentucky at the time but was prohibited as a race day medication in Maryland. In the Middle Jewel, Bally Ache regained his mastery over Venetian Way whom he had finished in front of four times prior to the Derby. Establishing a clear lead and setting a measured pace, the bay son of Ballydam easily turned back Venetian Way’s challenge on the far turn. At the finish, he was 4 lengths in front of a rallying Victoria Park. Celtic Ash, a lightly raced import from Ireland, owned by Joseph O’Connell and trained by Tom Barry was a good finishing third. Venetian Way, racing without his pharmaceutical, tired to be fifth.

Bally Ache after winning the 1960 Preakness Stakes
(baltimoresun.com)

Not letting the three week interval between the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes find them idle, Bally Ache, Venetian Way, Tompion (deemed recovered from his sore hoof) and Celtic Ash ran in the Jersey Derby at Garden State Race Track. In a spirted stretch duel, Bally Ache prevailed by a neck over Tompion with Celtic Ash third and Venetian Way fourth.

With clear leadership in the three-year-old male division accorded to Bally Ache, winning the Belmont Stakes would be considered the ultimate achievement for this horse who at one time 

appeared to have distance limitations. However, this test was not to be as he suffered an injury in training and was removed from the Belmont prospective field. (In addition, Victoria Park, having returned to Canada, did not contest the race either.) After William Hartack had been replaced by Eddie Arcaro aboard Venetian Way, he secured the mount on Celtic Ash for the Belmont Stakes. The race’s 1½ miles were ideal for the distance loving Irish bred, and he easily defeated Venetian Way by 5½ lengths. Tompion, the odds-on favorite, was rank when attempting to set the pace and tired, finishing a very disappointing fourth, prompting the phrase, “Tompion is no chompion”.

Celtic Ash winning the 1960 Belmont Stakes
(NEWS photo by Walter Kelleher)

If we stopped time after the Belmont Stakes and told racing people of this day that the eventual three-year-old champion would not only be none of the Triple Crown participants but would be a horse who did not make his three-year-old debut till after the Belmont Stakes was run, would there be any believers? With the perfect optics of history, we know this was the case and not only would this horse emerge to be the champion of 1960, he would forge a career that would place him among the greatest horses every to race in the United States. That horse was Kelso.

None of the three classic winners distinguished themselves afterwards. Bally Ache, probably the most gifted of all, had a tragic ending. After returning from his injury to win two allowance races prior to finishing third in the United Nations Handicap, he broke his ankle in a prep race at Hawthorne Racetrack. Shortly thereafter, he succumbed to an intestinal affection, a sardonic irony to his name. Venetian Way was only able to win a minor stakes race at Washington Park before his retirement in 1961, and Celtic Ash went lame soon after his Belmont Stakes triumph ending his racing career.

It was the often disappointing Tompion who had the most success post classics. During the summer of 1960, Tompion reaffirmed his affinity with Saratoga Racetrack winning the Bernard Baruch and Travers Stakes. The son of Tom Fool continued to race through the end of his four-year-old season placing in stakes races against the best and even winning in 1961 the Aqueduct Handicap. He was also a fair success at stud whereas, Venetian Way was a failure, and Celtic Ash had only a few major winners from limited opportunities. (Bally Ache’s premature death, of course, precluded a stud career.) Tompion, standing at times in the U. S., France and Japan, sired several stakes winners including the cheekily named Chompion, the hero of the 1968 Travers Stakes.