Burnham Square victorious in the Holy Bull (Lauren King)
Fountain of Youth Could Also Be Next for River Thames, Keep It Easy
David Joseph/Gulfstream Park
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC’s Burnham Square breezed an easy half-mile at Palm Meadows Training Center Saturday morning in preparation for a highly anticipated and scheduled start in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth (G2) March 1 at Gulfstream Park.
The homebred 3-year-old son of Liam’s Map was timed in 50.05 seconds in his first official workout since scoring a 1 ¾-length victory in the $250,000 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Feb. 1.
“He worked this morning, just a nice maintenance work, galloped out good,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “I’m very happy.
“He just went by himself. I didn’t even put the blinkers on him today,” he added of the workout at Gulfstream’s satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. “I just felt he needed a work and wanted to do something, so I let him have a light work in hand. He finished good with good energy and galloped out really nice.”
Burnham Square rallied from seventh under Edgard Zayas to win going away in the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull Feb. 1 despite bumping with a rival in the backstretch. Equipped with blinkers for the first time, the Kentucky-bred colt scored a nine-length maiden victory at the 1 1/16-mile distance Dec. 28 at Gulfstream. He had run twice previously, finishing second in his debut at Keeneland Oct. 26 and third Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs, both times finishing less than a length behind the winners.
Wilkes expects Burnham Square to continue to move forward in the Fountain of Youth, the 1 1/16-mile final prep for the $1 million Curlin Florida Derby (G1) March 29.
“I think he’s actually better now than he was going into [the Holy Bull],” he said. “I really like the way he came out of it.”
The Fountain of Youth is on Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher’s radar for CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm LLC’s River Thames, who has launched his career with two eye-catching victories at Gulfstream.
“He breezed well Friday morning. It was 13 days after his race, so we’re on target to get another work into him and take a look at it,” said Pletcher, whose New York-bred son of Maclean’s Music breezed a half mile in 49.60 seconds Friday at Palm Beach Downs. “We’re leaning that way at the moment.”
River Thames debuted Jan. 11 with a 4 ¾-lengths romp at six furlongs and followed up with 6 ½-length score at a mile Feb. 1.
“He’s been very good in both of his starts, and he handled the stretch-out from six furlongs to a mile, and he seems to like the track,” Pletcher said. “You always get added encouragement anytime they’ve been over it a couple times.”
James Bakke and Gerald Isbister’s Tip Top Thomas breezed four furlongs in 47.77 seconds at Palm Beach Downs Saturday. It was the fourth workout for the Pletcher-trained 3-year-old son of Volatile since his second-place finish in the Champagne (G1) Oct. 5 at Aqueduct. He is not a Fountain of Youth candidate.
“It’s a little too early to have anything picked out for him. but he’s doing good. We gave him a little freshening after the Champagne,” Pletcher said. “We feel like he’s a horse that’s probably going to be best suited to one turn, so we didn’t feel like we were in any rush to get back and try to force the Derby hand. But we’re happy with how he’s doing.”
St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Thoroughbreds’ Keep It Easy breezed five furlongs in 1:00.60 Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park in preparation for an expected start in the Fountain of Youth. The Dale Romans-trained son of Hard Spun is coming off a 5 ¼-lengths victory in the 6 ½-furlong Ed Brown Stakes Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs.
