Englishman put on another dazzling performance at sunny Saratoga on Saturday, rocketing to the front out of the starting gate and rolling to an easy victory over Deep Flame in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1).
The emphatic win confirmed trainer Cherie DeVaux’s other star 3-year-old as the best sprinter in the nation as the Maxfield colt covered 7 furlongs in 1:20.71.
Of his four victories in five starts, the C R K Stable-owned colt has won by a combined margin of about 25 lengths.
The H. Allen Jerkens was the first of five graded stakes on the 14-race Travers Day card, with the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) featuring Devaux’s Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Golden Tempo. The Travers starts at 6:35 p.m. ET.
“He outbroke everybody, and we were right where we wanted to be,’’ said winning jockey Jose Ortiz, the Spa’s leading rider who will be aboard Golden Tempo.
“From the three-eighths pole on, he was really cooking. We were going fast.”
Englishman ($2.82) was sent off as the heavy 2-5 favorite in the field of five (Solitude Dude was scratched). Once the gates sprang open, Englishman took off, led by about five lengths in the first quarter mile covered in 23.01 seconds. He just cruised down the backstretch with Deep Flame, ridden by Flavien Prat, the only contender. He moved into striking distance around the turn, but Englishman pulled away and won by 3 ¾ lengths.
“With a horse like him, it’s a little nerve-wracking,’’ said DeVaux. “You know there’s a target on his back. But Jose did a great job.”
Englishman is likely headed to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland on Oct. 31 and will surely be the horse to beat.
After trainer Bob Baffert’s Crude Velocity was beaten in the Woody Stephens, the Hall of Famer said: “I will never run against that horse again.”
Richard Rosenblatt is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press Horse Racing Editor. Currently, he serves as the news editor at US Racing, overseeing exclusive content from contributors worldwide.
