Englishman continues to dazzle in Jerkens

Following a brilliant victory in the Woody Stephen (G1), C R K Stable’s Englishman delivered another spectacular performance Saturday in the $485,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) at Saratoga. The Cherie DeVaux-trained speedster led comfortably throughout with regular rider Jose Ortiz, ultimately scoring by 3 3/4 lengths, and the imposing three-year-old colt appears likely to go favored in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland this fall.

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“It’s not that we doubt – sometimes when horses are as fast as he is, you just kind of get a little nervous (laughs); especially when you have a target on your back,” DeVaux said. “He breaks so fast and clears the field, and it’s hard for anyone to get up there and challenge him, and I think that’s the key. Jose has been key in developing him, especially in his races, because training, he’s so straightforward. Jose has done a great job with him, just developing him to be an elite-level horse.”

Englishman equaled a 40-year-old track record at Saratoga when winning the Woody Stephens by 5 3/4 lengths on the June 6 Belmont Stakes undercard, completing seven panels in 1:20.40. He returned from a 12-week rest and missed the track record by .31 seconds in the Jerkens, posting fractions in :23.01, :45.50, and 1:08.40 while traveling well within himself.

“You always worry if they are going to break clean and don't stumble,” Ortiz said. “He broke clean, and I was able to hold early on. Last time it was a very fast pace in 43 (.97 seconds), but today it was a smaller field, and I was able to just cruise around there. I was very happy with where I was. Beautiful. It was amazing. For him to put together two (big) performances back-to-back here at Saratoga is very remarkable. I think he's very, very, very good." 

The bay son of Maxfield improved his record to 4-for-5, sustaining the lone defeat when second to Crude Velocity in his stakes debut, the Pat Day Mile (G2) on the Kentucky Derby undercard. Englishman earned a measure of revenge when romping over the same rival in the Woody Stephens, and he left the Jerkens starting gate as the 1-5 chalk over five rivals.

Deep Flame, the 7-2 second choice following a convincing win in the Maxfield (G3) at Churchill Downs in late June, stalked in second and tried to make a run at Englishman approaching the stretch drive, but the prohibitive favorite had more to offer. Deep Flame still wound up a respectable second, nearly eight lengths better than Local Knowledge in third. Stickupwithoutagun and Amberjack completed the order.

Bred in Kentucky by Fifth Avenue Bloodstock, Englishman sold for $400,000 as a yearling at the 2024 Keeneland September sale. He is out of In It for the Gold, by champion male sprinter Speightstown.

Englishman runs well fresh and the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Oct. 31 appears likely next, but DeVaux said no decision has been made yet. 

“We really talked about that (ahead of the race), and we just want to see how both horses – (stablemate) Golden Tempo and Englishman – how they run today and how they came out of it,” DeVaux said. “If they act like they need another race, then that’s what we’ll do, but we were really just keyed on this weekend.”