Burnham Square Breezes for Fountain of Youth

Whitham Thoroughbreds' Burnham Square  breezed an easy half-mile at Palm Meadows Training Center Feb. 15 in preparation for a scheduled start in the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) March 1 at Gulfstream Park.

The homebred 3-year-old son of Liam's Map   was timed in :50.05 in his first official workout since scoring a 1 3/4-length victory in the Holy Bull Stakes (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. 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."

Equipped with blinkers for the first time in a Dec. 28 maiden race at Gulfstream, the Kentucky-bred gelding scored a nine-length victory in his race prior to the Holy Bull. 

Wilkes said he expects Burnham Square to continue to move forward in the Fountain of Youth, the 1 1/16-mile final prep for the $1 million 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."

River Thames Possible for Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth is on Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher's radar for CHC and WinStar Farm's River Thames , who launched his career with two eye-catching victories at Gulfstream earlier this year.

"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 :49.68 Feb. 14 at Palm Beach Downs. "We're leaning that way at the moment."

River Thames debuted Jan. 11 with a 4 3/4-length romp at six furlongs and followed up with a 6 1/2-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 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 Stakes (G1) Oct. 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack. He is not a Fountain of Youth candidate.

"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," Pletcher said.

St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds, and CJ Thoroughbreds' Keep It Easy  breezed five furlongs in 1:00.60 Saturday at Gulfstream in preparation for his 3-year-old debut, expected to be in the Fountain of Youth. The Dale Romans-trained son of Hard Spun   is coming off a 5 1/4-length victory in the Ed Brown Stakes Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs.