Englishman makes 3-year-old debut as DeVaux eyes return to winner's circle

It is not exactly a slump, as many of the horses have turned in competitive races, but since the 3-year-old colt Reagan’s Honor dazzled winning a first-level dirt route allowance on Feb. 19, the trainer Cherie DeVaux’s starters at Fair Grounds have gone 12-0-4-3.

Another potential star 3-year-old will be heavily favored to end DeVaux’s streak Thursday, when Englishman races for the first time since turning in one of the fastest 2-year-old races of 2025.

Englishman drew the outside post among nine 3-year-olds set to race six furlongs in a first-level allowance, race 10 of 11 on Thursday, the first card of Louisiana Derby week. Jose Ortiz rides and Englishman will be bet down to odds-on favoritism.

Race 9, a salty second-level dirt route allowance for older horses, is the actual Thursday feature, but all eyes will be on Englishman, a Maxfield colt who turned heads debuting Sept. 26 at Churchill Downs. Englishman showed speed and took an early lead, drawing steadily clear through the homestretch to win by 7 1/4 lengths, his raw time of 1:21.35 for seven furlongs yielding a 97 Beyer Speed Figure. That ranked fourth among 2-year-old figures during 2025, and only eventual champion Ted Noffey posted a higher figure before Englishman raced, getting a 98 in the Grade 1 Hopeful on Sept. 1.

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DeVaux worked Englishman three times during October before a relatively minor injury took him out of training, and the colt, since shipping from Kentucky to Louisiana, has gotten onto a regular and excellent work pattern starting.

“He’s worked by himself here,” DeVaux said. “He’s gotten very aggressive since he came back.”

Englishman comes back too late for the Kentucky Derby and, in any case, might project more as a miler than a true route horse. His dam, the Speightstown mare In It for the Gold, was a sprinter, as have been her three other foals to race. DeVaux, who trains Englishman for the P R K Stable, had no interest in bringing the colt back in a route, and Fair Grounds offers no one-turn race longer than six furlongs.

“This is just the start for his year. Our next target is likely the Pat Day Mile,” said DeVaux, referring to the one-turn Grade 2 stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard. “We were always trying to go the one-turn mile before he got hurt last year.”

Silver Talisman, second at this class level and distance on Feb. 20, figures second choice, though Donegal Light, who makes his first start for trainer Brad Cox following a winning Delta Downs debut, stands a decent chance to crash the exacta.

Orrizonte should win the ninth-race feature. Unraced between May 10 and Jan. 24, Orrizonte made his turf debut in his comeback run and, had he found stride just slightly sooner, would have won. Instead, a surging Orrizonte fell a neck short in a one-mile contest shorter than his ideal trip. A return to dirt going 1 1/16 miles ought to return Orrizonte to the winner’s circle.

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