The Jerkens Memorial – Grade I
7 Furlongs Dirt Stake Purse $500.000 Open 3 Year Olds.

1st Ineedu2party Maxmillion Farm Roman K

Turf or dirt, this speedy sort doesn’t care one jot, and whilst it would be rare in real life to see a horse successful on both surfaces, it doesn’t seem to matter too much at HRP. Last year’s BC Turf juvenile sprint runner-up showed all his speed and tenacity again today, and despite not being able to lead, was always going well in the stalk and when he hit the front was always holding the advantage, albeit by a slim margin. Yet to race out of his age group, it will be interesting to see how he does against the older sprinters in the BC, but he has a great racing attitude, and there is no reason he won’t give a good account of himself at the end of October.

2nd Gold State Mb Stables Velazquez J R

His running style once again seemed to work against him as he flew home too late, only failing by a head on the line. Another furlong and he would’ve won by a couple of lengths, but you also get the impression with the way closing works at HRP that he may still have come up short even over the extra furlong. I still think this one could’ve been a champion, and maybe someday he will be, but until the closing AI can sort out its timing he may continue to just fail to be the big winner he has the ability to be.

3rd Highway Robber Mb Stables Lopez P

A click of the gaming buttons seemed to turn this mid-pack type into a front-runner today, and he did pretty well to be beaten by only a half-length at the end. Eight races in 2025 without a win, and yet only once outside the top four, he must win at some point, and who knows that could well be in a grade one or an allowance at mid-level.

4th Turning Point TwinTowersRacing Geroux F

Came from a mile back with a similar run to his Amsterdam fourth last time, and once again the timing of the race engine saw him fail by about a length. Like the runner-up up he has that frustrating running style which really isn’t suited to this race engine and sees him running on too late, whether it’s over six furlongs or nine.

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES