Crude Velocity, Englishman set for highly anticipated Pat Day Mile showdown

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With all due respect to the horses they are running in the Kentucky Derby, potentially the most exciting 3-year-olds that trainers Bob Baffert and Cherie DeVaux send out Saturday at Churchill Downs meet a few hours earlier in the Grade 2, $600,000 Pat Day Mile.

Crude Velocity, trained by Baffert, and Englishman, conditioned by DeVaux, are both 2 for 2 and have looked the part of special horses in their performances. How far they’ll eventually want to run is to be determined, but the one-turn mile of the Pat Day looks to be ideal for both at this stage of their nascent careers.

Crude Velocity overcame a slow start and some traffic issues which forced him to steady on multiple occasions to run down a more seasoned Civil Liberty and win his career debut on March 7 by a neck at Santa Anita. Civil Liberty came back to win a maiden race at Keeneland by three lengths with a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. Memory, a Baffert trainee who finished seventh in the March 7 race, came back to win his maiden going a mile and earned a 93 Beyer.

In his subsequent start, Crude Velocity dominated a field of six older horses – they combined to make 112 starts – by 6 3/4 lengths. He got bumped twice at the start before settling into a dream trip behind horses under Florent Geroux and needed just two left-handed smacks to draw clear in the stretch.

In his debut, Crude Velocity “didn’t break well, he still got there. I was surprised he got there,” Baffert said. “And his second race, we took the blinkers off, he broke a little bit better and he sat, relaxed. I told [Geroux] just grab him, make him sit and let him turn it off and then let him finish. He ran great.

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“This is a tough race. Englishman, he’s a freak, he’s a really fast horse,” Baffert added. “You never how far they’re going to go until you do it.”

Florent Geroux will ride Crude Velocity in the six-horse field.

Englishman, a son of Maxfield, won his debut by 7 1/4 lengths at seven furlongs last September at Churchill Downs. Twice after he worked, Englishman developed filling in a knee and was given time off.

Englishman didn’t return to the races until March, when he won a six-furlong first-level allowance race by 7 1/2 lengths at Fair Grounds. Both of his wins came in front-running fashion. Englishman breaks from the rail in at most an 11-horse field. Twelve were entered but Great White drew into Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. One More Freud, cross-entered at Oaklawn Park, will run in the Pat Day Mile, trainer Bob Hess said.

DeVaux said she’s not bothered by the rail draw for Englishman.

“He broke sharp in his two races, and he’s got a high cruising speed,” DeVaux said. “This obviously is a big step up for him, I am looking forward to seeing where he is. He’s a brilliant horse up until now. For me, I haven’t had a horse of this caliber with so much precocity and speed.”

Secured Freedom was trying to jump on the Kentucky Derby trail. He finished third in the Robert Lewis and fourth in the San Felipe. He was pointing to the Santa Anita Derby but got sick and missed the race.

Trainer Tim Yakteen likes the turnback to a one-turn mile, but acknowledges the degree of difficulty of the race is high.

“I don’t like our competition,” Yakteen said. “Our horse is doing really well. I think the one turn is going to be perfect for him, so looking for a good race from him.”

John Velazquez is named to ride Secured Freedom.

Trouble Calling has won his last two starts, a six-furlong maiden race in front-running fashion and the seven-furlong Lafayette Stakes on April 3 at Keeneland from off the pace.

“He was on the pace in the maiden race because he was the best horse,” trainer Greg Foley said. “He got banged around leaving there and got shuffled back over at Keeneland. The track was muddy that day, Luis [Saez] said it took him a little while to get his feet under him. He was in a pretty long drive and got up and won. It was a pretty impressive race.”

Crown the Buckeye, a two-time Ohio-bred stakes winner, ran a respectable second behind Iron Honor in the Grade 3 Gotham going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct.

Stop the Car, fourth in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks, returns to a one-turn mile on dirt – the conditions of his allowance win on Nov. 29.

Work, Creole Chrome, Lockstocknpharoah, and Baytown Dreamer complete the lineup.

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