Small chance champ may run in Aug. 26 Personal Ensign

— -- SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Ashado munched on peppermints Monday, a day after winning her seventh Grade 1 in the Go for Wand Handicap at Saratoga, and her trainer, Todd Pletcher, looked ahead to his next move with the leader of the filly and mare division. In the winner's circle following Ashado's 9 1/2-length win in the Go for Wand, Pletcher said he would target the Ruffian on Sept. 11 and the Beldame on Oct. 1, before running Ashado in the Breeders' Cup Distaff on Oct. 29 at Belmont Park. Ashado, last year's champion 3-year-old filly, won the Breeders' Cup last year. Monday morning, Pletcher said there was a small possibility that Ashado could run again at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 26. "The Ruffian and Beldame was our original plan, and we will probably stick with it, but there is a little window of opportunity for the Personal Ensign," Pletcher said. "If she is bucking and squealing, we may run." Pletcher said he wishes the Ruffian were run one week sooner, but he likes the timing of the Beldame, which is four weeks before the Breeders' Cup. Last year, Pletcher used the Cotillion at Philadelphia Park as Ashado's prep for the Breeders' Cup. The Cotillion, which she won, was run four weeks before the Distaff. In winning the Go for Wand, Ashado raised her earnings to $3,245,440, which makes her the fifth-highest-earning filly or mare. Ashado's margin of victory in the Go for Wand was the biggest of her career. "I didn't think she was the type of horse who would win by nine and a half," Pletcher said, "because she has the tendency to idle [on the lead]. From that standpoint, it was her most impressive race." Pletcher, who has a sizable lead in the standings with 11 wins after the first six days of the meet, said that Flower Alley came out of his Jim Dandy victory well and is on target for the Travers on Aug. 27. The Pletcher-trained Ready's Gal, the winner of Friday's Lake George, is a possibility for the Lake Placid on Aug. 19. Willard Straight, a winner for Pletcher in a optional claiming turf race on Sunday, is possible for the Grade 2 Fourstardave on Travers Day. "We're off to a terrific start," said Pletcher, who has won the Saratoga title the last three years. "We knew we had some good opportunities and just needed for everything to fall into place, and so far it has."