Personal Ensign, a champion on the track and in the breeding shed, died April 8 at the Hancock family's Claiborne Farm near Paris, Ky. She was 26.

Pensioned from broodmare duty since 2006, the daughter of Private Account – Grecian Banner, by Hoist the Flag died of natural causes.

Undefeated in 13 starts, Personal Ensign is described as one of the greatest race mares. Her first of eight grade I wins came in the 1986 Frizette Stakes as a 2-year-old, and the following year Personal Ensign took down the Rare Perfume Stakes and the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park.

Personal Ensign's most memorable season came as a 4-year-old in 1988, when she repeated in the Beldame, beat males in the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, and emerged victorious in four other grade I events. But the most memorable moment of the great mare's campaign occurred in her final race, the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs. Seemingly beaten on a sloppy track, Personal Ensign roared down the stretch in the final stages of the race to catch free-wheeling Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors by a nose. Personal Ensign retired after that effort as the champion older mare of 1988 with $1,679,880 in the bank