Phi Beta Express earns right to step up for Allen Jerkens Memorial

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Seven weeks ago, Phi Beta Express was still a maiden, having lost the first three starts of his career, including a runner-up finish for maiden $50,000 claiming at Fair Grounds in January.

But after posting two wins in 20 days, Phi Beta Express will now step into Grade 1 company in next Saturday’s $500,000 Allen Jerkens Memorial (formerly the King’s Bishop) on the Travers card at Saratoga.

In two starts since being moved to trainer Danny Gargan by owner Martin Cherry, Phi Beta Express won a seven-furlong maiden special weight race at Belmont by 2 1/2 lengths and then a 6 1/2-furlong starter handicap by eight lengths July 23 at Saratoga.

“His numbers are good, the owner wants to take a shot, [and] there are not a lot of 3-year-old races left,” Gargan said Friday. “He’s a big, sound, pretty horse. He’s fast, but he’s rateable.”

Phi Beta Express won both of his races for Gargan on the front end.

In the Jerkens Memorial, Phi Beta Express will be stepping into some salty company, facing the likes of American Anthem, Coal Front, Excitations, No Dozing, Takaful, and potentially Practical Joke. Others expected to run include Ann Arbor Eddie, Tale of Silence, and Wild Shot.

On Friday, Phi Beta Express worked a half-mile in 49.11 seconds over the Oklahoma training track under Kendrick Carmouche.

Coal Front, undefeated in three starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, worked a half-mile in 50.69 on Friday under jockey John Velazquez. Coal Front went his first quarter in 25.73 and his second quarter in 25.13. He is coming back four weeks after winning the Grade 2 Amsterdam, for which he earned a 105 Beyer Speed Figure.

“Just two maintenance breezes were all we were looking for,” Pletcher said. “He’s fit, and he’s happy. He breezes by himself because he gets a little aggressive in company. When you run in both the Amsterdam and now the Allen Jerkens, you try to keep them in the same form they’re in, and I think we’ve been able to accomplish that.”