Englishman flirts with own track record in G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial win

BY NYRA Press Office —-

Hodges Photo
Englishman flirts with own track record in G1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial win

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – C R K Stable’s Englishman flirted with his own track record while turning in another eye-catching performance to further entrench himself atop the 3-year-old male sprint division with a 3 3/4-length triumph in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga Race Course.

The 42nd running of the seven-furlong Jerkens for sophomore sprinters, named for the late legendary Hall of Fame horseman who passed away in March 2015 at the age of 85, was the first of six graded-stakes worth $3.65 million in purses on a loaded program headlined by the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers.

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 Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun on June 6 during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. 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 current Saratoga meet leader 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, who has Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets winner Golden Tempo in the DraftKings Travers.

The starting gate had barely sprung open when Ortiz and Englishman came bounding out and quickly separated from their four rivals, going the opening quarter-mile in 23.01 seconds over the fast main track with Deep Flame, last-out winner of the Grade 3 Maxfield June 28 at Churchill Downs, in closest pursuit. Stickupwithoutagun, who stumbled at the break, settled on the rail in third trailed by Grade 2 Amsterdam winner Local Knowledge and longshot Amberjack.

“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.”

Deep Flame inched closer down the backstretch to close the gap after the half-mile went in 45.50 seconds, but the 2-5 betting favorite remained firmly in control with the running order unchanged. Englishman rounded the far turn, still under a hand ride.

Deep Flame did his best to chase the confident leader after they straightened for home, but Englishman drew away with a wave of Ortiz’s stick to register his second consecutive Grade 1 victory and fourth win overall from five starts. Englishman paid $2.82 for a $2 win bet.

“You always worry if they are going to break clean and don’t stumble. He broke clean, and I was able to hold early on,” Ortiz said. “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.”

In having his modest two-race win streak snapped, Deep Flame was 7 3/4 lengths ahead of Local Knowledge in second followed by Stickupwithoutagun and Amberjack. Solitude Dude, seventh to Englishman in the Woody Stephens and second to Local Knowledge in the Amsterdam, was scratched having run fourth in the Listed Robert Hilton Memorial on Friday evening at Charles Town.

“I thought we did what we had to do. 23 [seconds] opening quarter, not much pressure, so finished up well, good effort, we’ll rebound,” Deep Flame’s trainer Brad Cox said. “Not sure where we’ll go moving forward, but proud of the effort.”

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.

Englishman began his career with a pair of open-length romps in his September debut sprinting seven furlongs at Churchill Downs and a six-furlong optional claiming event six months later at Fair Grounds Race Course. He stretched out to set the pace in the one-turn Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on May 2 at Churchill and wound up second behind Crude Velocity, beaten 3 3/4 lengths. Englishman avenged his only loss beating Crude Velocity by 5 3/4 lengths in the Woody Stephens.

DeVaux said she was unsure whether she would train Englishman up to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint on October 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 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.”

Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card featuring the $200,000 Yaddo in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.

Saratoga Live presents daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.

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