CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm’s Kentucky-bred Patch Adams registered a determined victory in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. (G1) at Saratoga.
It was the third consecutive win for Patch Adams and second straight against Grade 1 company with Luis Saez in the irons following his 2 ¼-length triumph in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at the identical course and distance June 7, his most recent race.
“Good set-up. Obviously, a ground-saving trip,” winning trainer Brad Cox said. “He was ready to roll. He certainly acted like he was. Back home in Kentucky, we worked him out of the gate two weeks ago and put in a good move. We had him sharp enough. He broke well and Luis saved ground, and we needed it. He needed all the seven-eighths to get there.”
Patch Adams Responding to One Turn
Patch Adams has benefited from a return to sprinting after a pair of fourth-place finishes this year on the Kentucky Derby trail. Since shortening up, he is 3-for-3 with an optional claiming win in May over sloppy and sealed footing at Churchill Downs and his sensational score in the Woody Stephens prior to the Jerkens. He is also a perfect 3-0 at seven furlongs including a maiden triumph last fall at Churchill.
Bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, Patch Adams is out of the stakes-winning Distorted Humor mare Well Humored–a half-sister to Grade 1 winner American Patriot and Parchment Party, who captured the Grade 3 Belmont Gold Cup and Birdstone S. at Saratoga this year.
“We thought he was a big-time horse,” Cox said of the son of Into Mischief. “He is a big-time horse, a dual Grade 1-winner now. We thought he was a horse that could pick off a Derby prep, it wasn’t to be with the Southwest and the Tampa Bay Derby. We cut him back and he’s responded really well.”
Saez previously won the Jerkens with Promises Fulfilled in 2018. It was the first Jerkens win for Cox.