By Steve Sherack
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After successfully defending her title in the GII Delaware H. July 13, 'TDN Rising Star' Elate (Medaglia d'Oro) will set her sights on the GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga Aug. 24.
The two-time Grade I winner finished second, beaten a neck, to champion Abel Tasman (Quality Road) in a roughly run renewal of the 1 1/8-mile contest at the Spa last year. Currently a perfect three-for-three for Hall of Famer Bill Mott at the Classic 1 1/4-mile distance, including a runaway win in Saratoga's prestigious GI Alabama S., the Claiborne Farm and Adele B. Dilschneider 5-year-old homebred earned a free berth to this fall's GI Breeders' Cup Distaff at Santa Anita following a victory in the 'Win and You're In' GII Fleur de Lis H. beneath the lights at Churchill Downs June 15.
Any chance we see Elate take on males in either the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup or GI Breeders' Cup Classic at her preferred trip later this year?
“We are going to take it one race at a time,” Claiborne President Walker Hancock responded. “Right now, she is pointing towards the Personal Ensign, and depending on how it goes, that will dictate where she goes the rest of the year. The Jockey Club Gold Cup has been discussed.”
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