Undefeated Englishman Targets Pat Day Mile After Impressive 95 Beyer Score

Trainer Cherie DeVaux had a straightforward reason for dropping Englishman into a $55,000 allowance at Fair Grounds on March 19 rather than chasing a bigger immediate target. "I really picked this spot for him because it gives us more time to the Pat Day Mile," she said. The colt rewarded that patience with a performance that made the conditions look entirely beside the point.

Englishman covered six furlongs in 1:08.76 on a fast track, winning by 7½ lengths to earn a 95 Beyer Speed Figure in his 3-year-old debut. According to Horse Racing Nation, that final time is the best recorded by a 3-year-old going six furlongs at Fair Grounds since at least 1991 and only the third sub-1:09 clocking in that category in the past 35 years. Five rivals entered the starting gate; none of them were a factor.

Jose Ortiz, aboard for both of Englishman's career starts, described a ride that never required urgency. "I never asked him for anything except position out of the gate," Ortiz said. "I wanted to get position to stay out of trouble. I knew we had the best horse." DeVaux noted the colt was restless before the race but turned it on when it counted: "He didn't behave very well in the paddock, but he was a total pro on the track."

The victory improved Englishman's record to 2-for-2 with $102,300 in earnings for owner C R K Stable, LLC. His only previous start, also with Ortiz in the irons, was a gate-to-wire 7¼-length win going seven furlongs at Churchill Downs in September. After that debut, he worked three times at Keeneland in October before a 15-week layoff. He returned to the worktab in late January and logged seven works before his Fair Grounds appearance.

Bred in Kentucky by Fifth Avenue Bloodstock, Englishman is a first-crop son of multiple Grade 1 winner Maxfield, out of the Speightstown mare In It for the Gold. His second dam is All Due Respect, a multiple Grade 1-placed mare. He was purchased for $400,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale, having sold as a weanling at the 2023 Keeneland November sale for $240,000. TDN tagged him as a Rising Star, presented by Hagyard, which now looks like an understatement.

The Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on Kentucky Derby day at Churchill Downs is next on DeVaux's agenda. The course where Englishman broke his maiden will also be where his unbeaten record faces its stiffest test yet.