I’ve got a poster of her in my barn because she was an inspiration.
Most of those races she ran with screws in her leg, having fractured it as a 2 year old.
It is Personal Ensign I’ll be thinking of today while watching Zeny.
Sort of a passing of the torch feeling with Z running this afternoon.
Oh no, very sad news. She was a lovely gal.
RIP and Godspeed, beautiful girl.
For anyone who is not familiar with her (and even those who are), you must watch this:
Personal Ensign, the epitome of heart.
Dang it. I’m crying now.
Me too, Barnfairy, me too. Today is the anniversary of my mare’s passing 11 years ago…I like to think she was there to meet Personal Ensign. Godspeed, brave one.
One of the greats and one of my favorites. When my non-horsey friends ask me why I like horse racing, I tell them about 1988, about her campaign, her impending retirement, about Winning Colors. Then I show them The Distaff. I’ve made quite a few racing fans that way. I’m heartbroken.
Thanks for the memories, you grand mare you. Godspeed.
Me too, Barnfairy.
RIP.
May she guide all the horses today safely across the finish line.
She was one of my favorites. We have a print of her beating Winning Colors in the Distaff and then a picture of her granddaughter, Storm Flag Flying, winning the Filly Juvenile beating a gray trained by Lukas (Cara Rafeala if I remember correctly).
Not only was Personal Ensign one of the greatest race mares, but she also produced grade I winners!
Rest in Peace PE…She has passed the torch to Zenyatta…She will watch over her…
This mare defines why I love thoroughbred racehorses. The great ones win, against all odds, against all reason, somehow they find a way to win. It can’t be trained into them or produced by the jockey. It’s about the horse. Her win in the BC defies logic. No matter how many times I watch it, it brings tears to my eyes.
To do all that and then be named a broodmare of the year . . . a precious treasure.
RIP Personal Ensign - she won’t be forgotten.
Thanks for the memories
Yes, Barnfairy, it’s all about heart. It is, for me, other than grace and beauty and stamina and intelligence, the essence of the great ones. Some of them just want it, beyond all reason or apparent ability.
RIP Personal Ensign. Those are some big racing plates to fill.
You’re thinking of SFF’s dam, My Flag. Cara Rafaela (dam of Bernardini) is a 1993 model, and she was gray. SFF won in 2002 and beat Composure and Santa Catarina.
PE could be a tough mare. I remember when she broke Pete Sheerin’s arm when he palped her at Rood & Riddle. I think he’d been there just a few weeks, and he missed most of the breeding season.
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;4794841]
For anyone who is not familiar with her (and even those who are), you must watch this:
Personal Ensign, the epitome of heart.
Dang it. I’m crying now.[/QUOTE]
I watched that again, and I still prayed, please get there in time, chills, a lump in my throat, and a tear in my eye.
When I watched the race many years ago, I cried at the finish. My then husband, said to me, why are you crying??
Im glad to say he’s now the ex husband.
One of my all time favorite racing videos is Personal Ensign (with Randy Romero onboard) winning the Distaff. Horrible sloppy track, and Randy drove her to the outside to find some firm footing, and that girl drove it home! I get chills everytime I watch it. RIP, Personal Ensign.
watched that again, and I still prayed, please get there in time, chills, a lump in my throat, and a tear in my eye.
Me too. Can it have been nearly 22 years ago since we first saw it? I’d like to think I’ve spent that time as well as she!
When I watched the race many years ago, I cried at the finish. My then husband, said to me, why are you crying??
Im glad to say he’s now the ex husband.
Tears well spent, in the case of Personal Ensign…How many are the ways that horses call us back, and forward, to who we really are.
She is my OTTB’s great-grandmother, by Mr. Prospector. Hers was the name that leapt at me, in his pedigree. My heart, well, raced.
If we look hard enough, we’ll find her as a new constellation in the summer sky. At the last, forever overtaking the one beside her, on the horizon.
I’ll never forget the Distaff. I was at college and watching in the dorm lounge. Some other students had come in right then and were trying to outvote me on the dorm TV; they wanted to watch some other sport (something-ball, I think; I forget). They said horse racing was boring. I was fighting for rights of being there first and also trying to get them to shut up, as the Distaff was going off just then.
They continued making their case for something-ball . . . then slowly trailed off . . . then started really watching. Some of them actually cheered when she hit the wire.
And we all finished watching the Breeders’ Cup. They liked Alysheba a lot, too. :):yes:
A class act for sure. 
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;4794841]
For anyone who is not familiar with her (and even those who are), you must watch this:
Personal Ensign, the epitome of heart.
Dang it. I’m crying now.[/QUOTE]
Me too. God Speed, girl, what a magnificent horse she was.
