By Alan Carasso
C R K Stable's 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Englishman (c, 3, Maxfield–In It for the Gold, by Speightstown) was always going to be the long odds-on choice for Saturday's $500,000 GI H. Allen Jerkens Stakes at Saratoga on the back of his utterly impressive tour-de-force in the GI Woody Stephens Stakes on the Belmont Stakes undercard on the first Saturday in June.
In the end, the price was–remarkably–not quite as skinny as imagined.
Off at a generous 2-5 all the same on the final Saturday of August, the bay colt once again made every pole a winning one, more or less unextended, looking every bit the favorite for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint two months down the road at Keeneland.
The athletic bay colt was given the better part of a month to recover from the 115 Beyer he achieved when turning the tables on fellow 'Rising Star' Crude Velocity (Beau Liam) in no uncertain terms by nearly a half-dozen lengths in the Stephens. Englishman returned to the worktab at trainer Cherie DeVaux's Keeneland base on July 12 and breezed six times, capping it all off with a strong half-mile in :47 4/5 (6/31) on Aug. 21 before returning to the Spa.
Offering a hint of value largely due to the presence of Juddmonte's Deep Flame (Into Mischief), impressive winner of Churchill's GIII Maxfield Stakes when last seen June 28, Englishman was kicked straight into the lead by Jose Ortiz, but was not forced to overdo it early, as he got the opening quarter in :23.01 hasslefree seconds.
For all intents and purposes, the Jerkens was done and dusted from there.
Deep Flame did his best to keep up the chase into the second turn and began to make some sort of inroads nearing the stretch after the half-mile was posted in :45.50. But Ortiz was once again sitting quietly atop a loaded cannon and though he drifted out into the lane the same as he did before stamping his authority on the Woody Stephens, Englishman ran up the score from there to take it decisively.
The final time of 1:20.71 was the fastest since 2015, when Runhappy clocked 1:20.54.
For all the success this season, DeVaux almost feels the need to pinch herself at what her charge is capable of producing.
“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,” she 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 [Ortiz] 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.”
The conditioner has left the door open for a final Breeders' Cup prep, but is in no hurry to commit.
“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,” she 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.”
Pedigree Notes:
Englishman is one of four winners from four to race out of a daughter of All Due Respect, a restricted stakes winner and placed in the GI Santa Anita Oaks and GI Ballerina Stakes before selling for $550,000 carrying the filly that would become In It for the Gold at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton November Sale.
In It for the Gold was sold to Country Life Farm for $75,000 at Keeneland November in 2023 and is the dam of the 2-year-old filly English Woman (Authentic), a $25,000 Keeneland September yearling who was hammered down to Englishman's owner for $425,000 at this year's OBS April Sale.
In It for the Gold is also responsible for a yearling filly by Mandaloun, a colt by Tiz the Law foaled Mar. 27 and was bred back to Into Mischief.
Saturday, Saratoga
ALLEN JERKENS MEMORIAL S.-GI, $485,000, Saratoga, 8-29, 3yo, 7f, 1:20.71, ft.
1–ENGLISHMAN, 124, c, 3, by Maxfield
1st Dam: In It for the Gold, by Speightstown
2nd Dam: All Due Respect, by Value Plus
3rd Dam: Aunt Due, by Devil His Due
($240,000 Wlg '23 KEENOV; $400,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). 'TDN Rising Star' O-C R K Stable LLC; B-Fifth Avenue Bloodstock (KY); T-Cherie DeVaux; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $275,000. Lifetime Record: 5-4-1-0, $794,500. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Deep Flame, 124, c, 3, Into Mischief–Barbadia, by Speightstown. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Juddmonte (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $100,000.
3–Local Knowledge, 124, c, 3, Yaupon–Chestnut Street, by Scat Daddy. 'TDN Rising Star' 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($260,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP; $625,000 2yo '25 OBSAPR). O-Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-Stoneriggs Farm (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $60,000.
Margins: 3 3/4, 7 3/4, 8 1/4. Odds: 0.41, 3.63, 4.37.
Also Ran: Stickupwithoutagun, Amberjack. Scratched: Solitude Dude.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel Racing.
ENGLISHMAN is something special!
He earns back-to-back Grade 1 wins as he dominates the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes under @jose93_ortiz for trainer @RealDeUavx. pic.twitter.com/etaGUeEh0a
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 29, 2026
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