SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainers Brad Cox and Bob Baffert will send out five of the eight prospective starters in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes. One can easily make a compelling case for every member of the talented and extraordinarily well-matched lineup in what is arguably the most intriguing of the five Grade 1 stakes to be decided on Travers Day at Saratoga.
Cox will saddle the pair of last-out Grade 1 winner Patch Adams and the undefeated and yet unchallenged Verifire. Baffert counters with Grade 2 winner Barnes, the Grade 1-placed Madaket Road, and an unbeaten, up-and-coming 3-year-old of his own, the speedy Midland Money.
All of them will have to be at their best amongst an imposing lineup that also includes two-time Grade 1 winner Chancer McPatrick; Smoken Wicked, who dominated the Grade 2 Amsterdam earlier in the meet; and Captain Cook, making his first start since being transferred to trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn earlier this summer.
Patch Adams has won his last three starts around one turn, including the Grade 1 Woody Stephens with a come-from-behind, 2 1/4-length decision over Madaket Road going seven furlongs over a muddy strip here on June 7. His stablemate Verifire is perfect in three starts, having won those races by an average margin of more than five lengths, including the seven-furlong Maxfield Stakes at Churchill Downs by 2 3/4 lengths over Smoken Wicked.
“Patch is drawn inside. He’s doing really well and I expect him to run huge,” Cox said. “It’s a deep race but he’s shown he can compete at that level. There’s some speed in there. It’s all about sitting a nice trip.”
Verifire will get a class check stepping into graded stakes company for the first time, although he certainly had his stakes debut flattered and then some when Smoken Wicked came back to capture the Amsterdam by nearly six lengths here four weeks later.
“Verifire has done nothing wrong and he looks amazing,” said Cox. “It’s all about if he’s ready to take the next step. His numbers say he can. Obviously he’s also got to get a good trip too.”
Barnes will turn back to seven furlongs for the first time since his easy victory in the Grade 2 San Vicente, which launched his 3-year-old campaign at Santa Anita on Jan. 4. He ran even better stretching to 1 1/16 miles in the San Felipe in his next start when second best to Journalism, earning a 105 Beyer Speed Figure in defeat. He comes into the Allen Jerkens idle since finishing a well-beaten fifth, again behind Journalism, in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
Madaket Road ran gamely in defeat behind Patch Adams after stumbling badly at the start of the Woody Stephens, easily finishing second best although no match for the winner. It was the fourth graded stakes placing for the son of Quality Road, whose lone victory came in his second career start at 2.
Midland Money has captured his only two starts by a combined 9 1/4 lengths, including a first-level allowance by 3 1/4 lengths in wire-to-wire fashion here one month ago.
“All three are one-turn horses,” Baffert said of his Jerkens trio. “Barnes went off form so I stopped on him, freshened him up, and he’s been working well. Obviously the break is important in any race and it wasn’t perfect for Madaket Road [in the Woody Stephens]. I like the outside draw for him Saturday. The way he ran last time, Midland Money deserves to run here, and he came out of the [last] race really well. That was the key.”
Chancer McPatrick turns back to seven furlongs off a game head victory going 1 1/8 miles in the Curlin Stakes in his last start after a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Woody Stephens. The late-running son of McKinzie won back-to-back Grade 1 stakes, the seven-furlong Hopeful and one-mile Champagne, at 2.
“He really didn’t pick his feet up over the wet track in the Woody Stephens, but he’s training really well and has won a couple of Grade 1s around one turn,” said trainer Chad Brown. “I like him in this race, especially with a lot of pace in the field.”
Smoken Wicked has come forward in a big way in his last two starts. In his last, he turned in far and away the most impressive performance of his career, drawing away to a one-sided victory in the Amsterdam for which he earned a lifetime best 101 Beyer Speed Figure for trainer Dallas Stewart.
Captain Cook, a tiring third after contesting the pace with Smoken Wicked in the Maxfield, was transferred to Pletcher’s barn shortly after the race and will compete without blinkers for the first time. He turned in a very strong work with the equipment change over this track on Aug. 8.
– additional reporting by David Grening
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.