C R K Stable’s Kentucky-bred Englishman flirted with his own track record while turning in another eye-catching performance in winning the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) at Saratoga.
Englishman cruised over a fast main track in 1:20.71, just off the course record of 1:20.40 he equaled when winning the Woody Stephens (G1) on June 6. The final time matched Darby Creek Road’s course mark of 1:20 and 2/5 set in 1978, when races were timed only in full fifth-seconds.
Englishman has been ridden in all five of his starts by Jose Ortiz. It was the second win in the H. Allen Jerkens for Ortiz following Jack Christopher in 2022 and first for trainer Cherie DeVaux.
“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 Could Train up the Breeders’ Cup
A $400,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Englishman is out of the winning Speightstown mare In It for the Gold, and his second dam is the multiple graded stakes-placed All Due Respect. He was bred in Kentucky by Fifth Avenue Bloodstock. Englishman was a $400,000 graduate of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
DeVaux, who also trains Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Golden Tempo, said she was unsure whether she would train Englishman up to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) on Oct. 31 at Keeneland, where the Maxfield colt is based with the trainer’s main string, or have another race.
“We really talked about that [ahead of the race], and we just want to see how both horses, Golden Tempo and Englishman, how they run and how they come 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.”