Englishman on course for Pat Day Mile, Reagan's Honor for Blue Grass

NEW ORLEANS – It’s 3-year-old season all over the land, especially so this week in the Fair Grounds barn of trainer Cherie DeVaux.

DeVaux, in the lead-up to running Golden Tempo here Saturday in the Louisiana Derby, sent out the fabulously talented Englishman to a ridiculously easy win on the Thursday card at Fair Grounds. On Friday, she worked Reagan’s Honor for the Blue Grass Stakes in two weekends.

Englishman dazzled in his debut, winning a seven-furlong Churchill maiden race on Sept. 19 by 7 1/4 lengths and earning an elite 97 Beyer Speed Figure. Englishman got back to work in October before an injury took him out of training. Suffice it to say he is the same horse now as he was then.

Englishman, looking like a winner from the first jump, absolutely coasted to a 7 1/2-length victory in a 3-year-old first-level allowance, running six furlongs over a glib surface in 1:08.76, a raw time that yielded a 95 Beyer. Even running fast, the colt could not have won more easily. Jose Ortiz had him geared down at the furlong grounds, though Englishman is so naturally fast that he still widened his lead from the stretch call to the wire.

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Englishman came back to the winner’s circle barely drawing a deep breath and, after being observed Friday morning, appeared to have exited the race in excellent condition. DeVaux said earlier in the week that if all went well Thursday, Englishman would head next to the Pat Day Mile, and that, DeVaux confirmed Friday morning, remains the plan. A son of Maxfield, Englishman’s brilliance might at some point translate to two-turn racing, but connections have no intention of rushing him into anything.

Reagan’s Honor, on the other hand, needed two turns for his talent to shine. Fourth in his sprint debut, Reagan’s Honor went to wire here Jan. 17 winning a maiden dirt route and came back Feb. 19 to defeat older first-level allowance foes. He won that contest by 6 3/4 lengths while raising his Beyer from an 81 in the maiden race to a 96.

Reagan’s Honor, working inside the 3-year-old grass horse remember Mamba, clocked 47.80 seconds for a half-mile before galloping out five furlongs in 59 and change. It was a good, solid drill, and DeVaux was not looking for anything mind-blowing before Reagan’s Honor ships in coming days to her barn at Keeneland.

Another DeVaux-trained 3-year-old, Awesome Gun, has been taken out of training with an injury. Awesome Gun finished unplaced in his first three starts but took a large leap forward here Feb. 14, scoring a front-running 3 1/4-length victory that yielded an 86 Beyer.

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