Saratoga to rename major race for late trainer Allen Jerkens

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) Saratoga is renaming the Grade 1 King's Bishop for 3-year-old sprinters in honor of late Hall of Fame trainer Allen Jerkens.

The $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial will be run on Aug. 26, the same day as the Travers at the upstate New York track.

Jerkens, who died in 2015 at age 85, trained King's Bishop in the early 1970s. Nicknamed ''Giant Killer,'' Jerkens was known for some of the biggest upsets in racing history, including two over 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat.

Jerkens' trainer-son, Jimmy, says the honor means a lot to the family and his father would ''probably be blushing'' about it.

The elder Jerkens trained 3,859 winners and had purse earnings of nearly $104 million, with many of his biggest victories coming in New York.