Crude Velocity Horse Leads 2026 Pat Day Mile Field at 5-2
Crude Velocity horse enters Saturday's 2026 Pat Day Mile as the 5-2 morning-line favorite over Englishman at 3-1. Both are 2-for-2, and the race at Churchill Downs puts two unbeaten 3-year-olds in a $750,000 field of 11 at 3:23 p.m. ET.
Crude Velocity and Englishman
Crude Velocity is trained by Bob Baffert, while Englishman is trained by Cherie DeVaux. That matchup sits at the center of the race because both horses arrive with clean records and the market has already separated them from the rest of the field.
Trouble Calling is next on the morning line at 5-1, with Crown the Buckeye at 6-1 and Creole Chrome at 8-1. The contrast is sharp: two unbeaten runners at the top, then a cluster of longer shots trying to close the gap in a race that can shape where these horses go next.
Michelle Yu Picks
Michelle Yu made her selections and built her bets for the race, and her top pick is a horse she described as having “loads of talent.” Yu is a Santa Anita-based racing reporter and insider who has provided analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, and she also previously worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett.
Her record is part of the reason her view carries weight here. She gave out Medina Spirit as the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby at 12-1, suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds in Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager four years ago, and later hit the Fierceness-Journalism exacta in the Pacific Classic in August and the Renegade-Silent Tactic-Taptastic trifecta in the Arkansas Derby last month.
Churchill Downs Pace
Saturday's race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., is being framed as a possible stepping-stone toward the Preakness Stakes. With 11 horses entered, the Pat Day Mile gives Crude Velocity and Englishman a chance to separate themselves again, this time on one of racing's bigger stages and with the betting line already pointing to them as the ones to beat.
The $750,000 race goes at 3:23 p.m. ET, and the morning line suggests the main pressure sits with the two undefeated colts. Crude Velocity's 5-2 position makes him the clear public choice for now, but Englishman's 3-1 line keeps the race tight at the top and leaves little room for either horse to stumble.
