The pursuit of perfection in professional sports is fraught with danger. An elite pitcher can pitch absolutely flawlessly for eight innings and still lose a perfect game by missing his spot by inches and allowing a bloop single. Or an NFL team like the New England Patriots in 2007 can win every regular season game and effortlessly advance to the Super Bowl, only to lose the deciding game in a monumental upset.

In horse racing, a Thoroughbred can run into another star in top form, the weather can lead to a track he doesn’t particularly like, or the race can’t go his best. Personal Ensign faced all of these adversities in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but she overcame them with unwavering tenacity to end her undefeated career with an unforgettable victory.

It was a small miracle that Personal Ensign even made it to her third career start after she broke the fetlock joint in her left hind leg in training following her win in the second race, the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes. She had five screws implanted in her leg and was confined to her stall for three months.

“We never thought she would race again,” said trainer Shug McGaughey Bloodhorse before the 1988 distaff, “but it was never a life-threatening situation. I thought the vets were crazy when they told me about a week after the surgery that she had a chance to walk again.”

Personal Ensign didn’t just run, she won and won and won some more. The Ogden Phipps-bred mare by Private Account made it 4 out of 4 in 1987, winning the Grade 2 Rare Perfume and Grade 1 Beldame Stakes. She then won six straight races in 1988 – five Grade 1s and one Grade 2 – before making her final career start with lucky number 13 in the Distaff.

“It will be strange when I lead them to the paddock for the last time,” said McGaughey Bloodhorse. “I have been coming to the stables for almost two years now and she is always the most important thing in my thoughts. I go to her stable and see how she is and if she is OK. When I wake up every morning thinking about everything I have done with her, there is an emptiness.

“Being with her and having her was an experience I will never forget,” McGaughey added, “but it’s not all an experience I’ll miss because there was a lot of pressure.”

Leading up to the race, Winning Colors appeared to be the biggest obstacle standing between Personal Ensign and perfection, although 1988 Kentucky Oaks winner Goodbye Halo, with three Grade 1 wins that year, was considered a serious threat to Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham.

Winning Colors became only the third mare in history to win the Kentucky Derby in May, then went on to finish third in the Preakness and sixth in the Belmont. After a freshening up, Winning Colors finished second in the Grade 1 Maskette Stakes and fourth in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes in her final preparation for the Distaff, but Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas had his mare back in top form in time for the Distaff.

Winning Colors built a comfortable 2 ½ length lead on the muddy main track while remaining unchallenged in the early stages of the Distaff, setting a fairly easy 1:12 pace for three-quarters of a mile under Gary Stevens. Personal Ensign, on the other hand, stayed wide in traffic before the first turn and reportedly didn’t like the muddy ground under his regular rider Randy Romero.

Winning Colors maintained a clear lead until the home stretch and looked a sure winner as Goodbye Halo could not make up enough ground. Personal Ensign had entered the contest from the outside but seemed to be losing ground quickly. Personal Ensign showed the heart of a winner in the final sixteenth of a mile as she kept her nose ahead with every stride to move ahead just before the finish line.

“I don’t know if it was her biggest race or not, but she ran a great race,” said McGaughey Bloodhorse after the dramatic victory that capped an undefeated career with 13 wins in as many starts. “I don’t want to take anything away from anybody, but I’m not sure how well she handled the track. When she came back into the straight, Randy told me she was really good on her feet, but I thought she was beaten. I probably thought she had no chance until maybe five or six strides from the finish. I think a race like (the Distaff) just shows what she’s made of.”

“She didn’t want to be hit,” Romero said Bloodhorse“She was determined to get the job done.”