2025 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes Preview

Key takeaways:

• Patch Adams (3-1) is the narrow favorite after a sharp Woody Stephens (G1) win but draws the tricky rail.
• Chancer McPatrick (5-1) looks well-suited to the setup, with plenty of early speed to chase and proven Saratoga form.
• Verifire (4-1) is unbeaten in three starts and now takes his shot at graded company with Flavien Prat sticking aboard.
• Smoken Wicked (6-1) adds intrigue after an Amsterdam (G2) win but may get tangled in a hot pace.

The biggest race of the year in the three-year-old sprint division happens Saturday, August 23, at Saratoga Race Course: the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial. For many years, the race was named for King’s Bishop, a star in Jerkens’ barn in the early 1970s, but the race was renamed in honor of Jerkens himself in 2017. The race has been run since 1984, and some of the stars who have won over the years include Housebuster, More Than Ready, Squirtle Squirt, Lost in the Fog, Hard Spun, Caleb’s Posse, Runhappy, Drefong, and Jackie’s Warrior.

The 2025 edition of the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial drew a field of eight. The narrow morning-line favorite is Patch Adams, who found Kentucky Derby preps a bit too long but sparkled in the Woody Stephens (G1) and returns to a seven-furlong sprint at Saratoga for this. Some of his toughest competitors include last year’s Hopeful (G1) winner Chancer McPatrick, San Vicente (G2) winner Barnes, Amsterdam (G2) winner Smoken Wicked, and the up-and-coming Verifire.

H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, August 23
• Track: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York
• Post Time: 4:22 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 7 furlongs on the dirt
• Age/Sex: 3-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing and Fox
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2025 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Draw and Odds

This is the field for the race, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and official morning-line odds:

H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Prep Race Results

The eight runners in the H. Allen Jerkens come out of six different races. The only graded stakes with more than one last-out runner is the Woody Stephens, the featured sprint race at Saratoga during Belmont Stakes weekend. Patch Adams ran to his potential that day, tracking the pace and winning by 2 ¼ lengths over Madaket Road, who he faces again in the Jerkens. Chancer McPatrick also contested that race, running off the board, but he has raced once since, getting up by a head to take the restricted Curlin at the Spa on July 24.

Two others come out of other graded events. Smoken Wicked won the Amsterdam (G2), the traditional local prep for the Jerkens, on July 25. Barnes has freshened up since a fifth-place effort behind Journalism in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 5.

Another pair comes out of the listed Maxfield, a seven-furlong sprint at Churchill Downs on June 29. Verifire, who made his stakes debut in the Maxfield, pressed the pace and won by a length over the aforementioned Smoken Wicked. Captain Cook, the early pacesetter in the Maxfield, followed them home in third.

Midland Money is the only one without stakes experience. He comes into the race out of a frontrunning allowance win going six furlongs at the Spa on August 3, his first start since a debut maiden win over a year before.

H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Contenders

These are the eight horses in the field for the H. Allen Jerkens.

1. Patch Adams: He has been a buzz horse since the maiden ranks, but is really coming into his own as an extended sprinter. He won an allowance on the Kentucky Derby undercard in fast fashion, and then stepped up to the graded-stakes level with a no-doubt-about-it score in the Woody Stephens on the Belmont undercard. Both of those most recent starts came on wet tracks, but his blowout maiden win suggests he handles fast dirt well, too.
2. Midland Money: One of three Bob Baffert trainees in the field, Midland Money hasn’t done anything wrong, but also hasn’t faced horses of this caliber yet. He wired a five-furlong maiden dash at Santa Anita last June, was laid off over a year, and returned to wire an allowance sprint at Saratoga on August 3. On one hand, he lacks stakes experience—but on the other, that allowance came against older foes, making him the only one with that experience. He also won that from the rail with some pressure early, experience that should serve him well with other speed outside him in this spot.
3. Barnes: Whether it was a question of inexperience or distance limitation, he never made an impact on the Kentucky Derby trail. However, in January, he won the San Vicente with authority, and he cuts back to that same trip for the Jerkens. He battled on the pace that day and drew off, though his maiden win at 5 ½ furlongs at Churchill Downs suggests he has a stalking gear as well. The quality of his foes is much better here than what he faced in those early sprint starts, but with tactical speed and the in-form Jose Ortiz in the irons, he has some claims on finding his form again.
4. Chancer McPatrick: He lost his way for a while earlier this year, but a win in the Curlin suggests that, at the very least, fast Saratoga dirt may be his sweet spot. He gets that again for this race, which covers the same distance as the Hopeful, a top-level race he won last year. He is a late-running sort, but with plenty of speed in the field, there is a good chance he gets a setup for his running style. And, coming off a win going 1 ⅛ miles, he should be fit for this turnback in trip.
5. Verifire: Unraced until this spring, he has three wins in three starts and now steps into graded company for the first time. His best race yet was his most recent one, when he stretched out to seven furlongs for the first time (and raced without Lasix for the first time) in the Maxfield. He won in stalk-and-pounce fashion, proving he didn’t need to be on the lead against good horses. That gear should help him this time around, with a couple of speed horses to track behind. And, with trainer Brad Cox and jockey Flavien Prat in his corner, he has a strong team behind him.
6. Smoken Wicked: This overachieving Louisiana-bred has found a home going one turn. Though he was second to Verifire two back in the Maxfield, he shipped out to Saratoga and demolished the field in the Amsterdam (G2). That was a softer field than this group, and the concern is that he gets snarled up with other speed early. But, the seven-furlong distance is good for him, Dallas Stewart and Brian Hernandez have done well on price horses lately, and he has shown flashes of a stalking gear, as in his Louisiana Juvenile win last year.
7. Captain Cook: He did break his maiden by 9 ¼ lengths at Aqueduct going seven furlongs last December, but against stakes horses, he has been a little better going two turns than one. He is a pace wildcard—in his first start since moving from the Rick Dutrow barn to the Todd Pletcher barn (for the same owners, St. Elias Stable), he will race without blinkers for the first time in his career. He is a better horse when stalking or pressing than he is on the front end; he has class to prove, but if the removal of the blinkers helps him tap into that more tactical style, he has a shot to improve enough for a piece.
8. Madaket Road: His only win in seven starts came in maiden company last December, though he has snagged five graded-stakes placings along the way. That includes a pair of runner-up finishes at seven furlongs, in the Bob Hope (G3) last year and the Woody Stephens last out. He would need to run his best race yet to be a win candidate in this spot, but there is some chance he grew up over a 2 ½-month freshening, and he does get the advantage of an outside tracking trip.

H. Allen Jerkens Memorial: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes:

1. Chancer McPatrick (5-1)

This race has drawn no shortage of early pace, which helps the late-running Chancer McPatrick. To be fair, even though he is a late runner, he doesn’t need a pace collapse to win. It doesn’t hurt, of course, but he was able to rally into perfectly modest fractions for the distance in the Hopeful Stakes last year, and get up just in time. This time the pace stands to be quick, though Midland Money is the only one who hasn’t proven at least some stalking gear, most of the field usually turns up on or near the lead, meaning Chancer McPatrick should get at least honest fractions to chase, and possibly even downright fast ones.

Chancer McPatrick is also a horse for the course. Though he faltered in the mud at the Spa two starts back, he remains perfect over dry dirt at Saratoga Race Course, something he’ll get in the Jerkens. He was even able to ride that to a victory at 1 ⅛ miles last out, longer than he really wants to go, and now he gets that sort of footing over what really is his best game, an extended one-turn trip.

2. Verifire (4-1)

Flavien Prat has ridden several talented horses in this field fairly recently: Patch Adams, Chancer McPatrick, Midland Money. He sticks with Verifire: a horse who has three wins in three starts, all with Prat in the saddle. Class is the question, as Verifire has yet to run in a graded stakes. But, he beat next-out Grade 2 winner Smokin Wicked in the Maxfield last out, suggesting a hint of his quality, and doing so in fast enough fashion to be competitive in a graded race.

Verifire has also only led at every call in one of his three races. He did use a stalk-and-pounce style to take down the Maxfield last out, and even though he did that from an outside draw, he did it from a middle gate in his debut win at Colonial back in March. If he can tap into that running style again, he might get the jump on what few closers there are in this race and break through at the graded level.

3. Patch Adams (3-1)

Patch Adams has muddled form because he has tried a few kinds of races: a regular sprint, some extended sprints, and some two-turn races. But, zoom in on his three extended sprints, and you find his three victories and his three fastest efforts. Two of them have been on off tracks, meaning there may be some bettors who get a little gunshy—but his maiden win came over fast dirt at Churchill, and was comparable from a speed figure perspective to those more recent wins over off tracks.

The major question is the post draw—though he was drawn in post 4 of 10 last out, when he showed that tactical speed last out in the Woody Stephens, the speed was drawn inside of him. Mired on the fence, he may be forced to go. But, he has been able to battle on the lead and keep going, giving him an out if Luis Saez cannot finagle a way to put him in a stalking spot from the fence.

H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes?
A: The race happens Saturday, August 23, at 4:22 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes?
A: It happens at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is the 10th of 14 on Saturday’s Travers Day card, the flagship race day of the summer meet.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Allen Jerkens Memorial?
A: The late, great D. Wayne Lukas leads all trainers with five Allen Jerkens victories between 1985 and 1996. Among trainers with horses in the 2025 edition, Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown are tied with three wins each. Pletcher can win his fourth with Captain Cook, while Brown can do so with Chancer McPatrick.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Allen Jerkens Memorial?
A: The narrow 3-1 favorite in the Allen Jerkens Memorial is Patch Adams, who comes off a strong victory in the Woody Stephens last out. He is trained by Brad Cox, who is always well bet, and has been the favorite in every one of his six starts to date. Especially with the questions surrounding the next couple in the morning line, Verifire (4-1) and Barnes (9-2), Patch Adams does stand to hold as the choice come post time.

Q: Who is the best Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes jockey?
A: Both John Velazquez and Mike Smith have four wins in this race, the most of any rider. Velazquez, whose most recent win came with Mind Control in 2019, can extend the record to five if he rides Madaket Road to victory.

Q: Who won the Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes in 2024?
A: Domestic Product won the 2024 Allen Jerkens Memorial for trainer Chad Brown and jockey Flavien Prat. Brown returns in 2025 with Chancer McPatrick; Irad Ortiz rides. Prat rides Verifire for Brad Cox.

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