Englehart considers Grade 1 test for Captain Bombastic

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart said Thursday he would not rule out the possibility of running Mike Lee winner Captain Bombastic against open company in the Grade 1, $300,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Aug. 1 at Saratoga Race Course.

Owned by Team Hanley, the Forty Tales chestnut added a second stakes triumph to his ledger in the seven-furlong Mike Lee for New York-bred sophomores June 14 after a pair of runner-up efforts against open company at Oaklawn Park. As a 2-year-old, Captain Bombastic won the Sleepy Hollow on Empire Showcase Day, Oct. 19, a head better to his stablemate Cleon Jones.

"I'd love to think we would be competitive in a race like the Allen Jerkens,” Englehart said. “I'm not saying that's where we're pointing but it's on our radar.

“He would have to be just as sharp or sharper than he was going into the Mike Lee. Obviously, we could go against New York-breds, there are a couple of options for him. It's all about timing and how the horse is doing."

Captain Bombastic was bred in New York by Chester and Mary Broman and is out of the multiple stakes-placed Cat Thief broodmare Stolen Star. He was bought for $80,000 from the 2019 Ocala Breeders Company's 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale and was consigned by Sequel Bloodstock.