SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Idiomatic survived a serious pace battle with her nemesis Randomized and seemed on her way to another victory in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga. But despite fighting valiantly to the wire, she was touched-off strides from the wire by a late-rallying Raging Sea, who captured her first Grade 1 stakes by a head. Idiomatic, the champion female dirt horse of 2023, finished second by 10 1/4 lengths over Soul of an Angel, who got away slow after the assistant starter appeared late in releasing the filly. Randomized, who beat Idiomatic by a head in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps here in June, finished fourth, 13 3/4 lengths clear of Xigera in the 1 1/8-mile race. It was another perfect ride by Flavien Prat, who won his 12th stakes of the meet, eighth graded. Brown, the leading trainer at the meet with 29 wins, won his ninth graded stakes of the meet, his fourth Grade 1. It was the fifth victory from the last six starts for Raging Sea, a 4-year-old daughter of Curlin owned by Alpha Delta Stable. Her lone loss in this run, dating back to a Keeneland allowance win last October, was a fourth-place finish behind Randomized and Idiomatic in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps here on June 8. Brown felt the speed-favoring nature of the Saratoga main track that day aided Randomized, but hurt Raging Sea. :: Get Saratoga Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day. Friday, Raging Sea was helped by a torrid pace battle that saw Idiomatic, under Florent Geroux, and Randomized, under Joel Rosario, battle heads apart through six furlongs in 1:10.53. Raging Sea was 8 3/4 lengths off the pace at that point, but Prat liked the way she was traveling. Leaving the three-eighths pole, Idiomatic had put away Randomized and opened up four lengths by midstretch. Geroux said his filly idled a little bit but he got into the filly left handed and she came out towards a rallying Raging Sea. Though Raging Sea stayed on her left lead and did receive a bump from Idiomatic at the wire, she got her head in front. “I didn’t want to be too far back or else she’d lose interest in the race,” Prat said. “After that, when I was able to pass [Xigera], she picked it up nice and she made a pretty brave run. . . .  It felt like [Idiomatic] was still going well from where I was, but it was just a matter of whether I could get there in time.” Raging Sea was timed in 1:49.14 and returned $14.40 to win. This was the second time this year that Idiomatic suffered a narrow defeat. She got off bad and had a wide trip in the Phipps. Friday, she just couldn’t hang on after getting into that pace duel. “The pace was solid, but not suicidal and the filly ran a monster race,” Geroux said. “She idled a little bit but she always does that - throws her ears back and forth at the eighth pole. I feel like it’s the second time this year she ran a winning race and lost. The fillies who beat her don’t necessarily come back and run great races.” Brad Cox, who trains Idiomatic for Juddmonte Farm, said “Once again, best horse in the race, my opinion, just didn’t get there.” :: Gain a competitive edge at Saratoga with DRF's premier handicapping data — purchase our meet packages today and bet with confidence. Brown had said before the race that Randomized had missed a work due to illness in between the Phipps and this race, but he felt he had enough in her to still run in the Personal Ensign. “In hindsight, the way that she backed off in the lane, it certainly looked like she felt some missed training or something because she’s better than that,” Brown said. Raging Sea and Idiomatic could very well meet again in the Grade 1, $600,000 Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 6. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.