English Channel (horse) - Three-Year-Old Campaign

Three-Year-Old Campaign

Seven months later, in March 2005, he made his second career start in an allowance at Gulfstream Park. Once again he ran midpack, but unlike in his maiden race, he was unable to close ground on the eventual winner Drum Major and finished fourth. Exactly one month later, English Channel ran in an allowance at Keeneland Race Course. After making a four-wide sweeping move, he ran at the front of the pack, eventually taking the lead and recording a 5 3/4 length victory.

On Preakness day at Pimlico, English Channel made his stakes debut in the listed Woodlawn Stakes. After running much of the race in traffic, he once again charged into the lead and pulled away, winning by 4 lengths, marking his first career stakes victory, his second straight victory by more than three lengths and his third overall victory.

In June 2005, Pletcher pointed the horse to the inaugural Colonial Turf Cup at Colonial Downs to try for the first leg of the Grand Slam of Grass. Currently a Grade II event, the race was a listed stakes in its first year. Running on the outside in third during the opening portions of the race, English Channel once again took the lead and pulled away from his competitors to score his third straight victory.

English Channel then attempted the second leg of the Grand Slam, running in the Virginia Derby, once again at Colonial Downs. This race was his graded-stakes debut, as the Virginia Derby was a Grade III event at that time. After taking a few missteps on the backstretch, he recovered and once again drove to the finish line, winning by 3 1/4 lengths, marking his fourth straight victory and his first career graded stakes win.

From Colonial Downs, the Grand Slam of Grass moved to Arlington Park for the third leg - the Secretariat Stakes. Going into the race as the favorite in his Grade I debut, English Channel was halfway to becoming the first horse to complete the Grand Slam of Grass. After racing alongside Purim, English Channel was overtaken by Gun Salute, who had been following the leaders in third. Gun Salute pulled away slightly, beating English Channel to the wire by 1 3/4 lengths and ending both his win streak and his chance at a Grand Slam.

A narrow defeat followed in the Turf Classic Invitational at Belmont Park. Making his first start against older horses, English Channel lost by a head bob to Shakespeare after the two horses raced alongside each other throughout the closing stages.

Rounding out his three-year-old campaign, English Channel ran fifth in the Breeders' Cup Turf after tiring in the stretch, only the second time in his career he had finished outside of the top two.