Klimt headed for Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga

DEL MAR, Calif. – Klimt, second in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 15 in his first race of the year, is scheduled to start in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Saratoga on Aug. 26, trainer Art Sherman said this week.

The $500,000 Jerkens Memorial is run in honor of the late Hall of Fame trainer and was previously known as the King’s Bishop Stakes.

Sherman said the time between the Los Alamitos Derby and the Jerkens Memorial appealed to him.

:: Christmas in July! Take 20% off PPs, Clocker Reports, and more

“I can freshen him,” he said.

Owned by Kaleem Shah, Klimt has won 3 of 7 starts and earned $456,960. In the Los Alamitos Derby at 1 1/8 miles, Klimt was near the pace throughout and finished 2 3/4 lengths behind West Coast.

The Los Alamitos Derby was Klimt’s first start for Sherman. The colt was trained by Bob Baffert at 2, but Baffert and Shah parted ways last winter.

At 2, Klimt won two stakes, including the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity. He was eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last November in his final start of the year.