Unbeaten McCraken to Make Seasonal Bow in Sam F. Davis

All of Ian Wilkes' experience as a horseman is telling him he has something special on his hands with Janis Whitham's homebred colt McCraken. What the trainer is still trying to get gauge on is at what level the son of Ghostzapper's talent will eventually settle.

"You know, I don't know how good he is yet," Wilkes said. "I haven't gotten to the bottom of him yet."

File that as arguably the best question mark a trainer could have regarding one of their charges—particularly a precocious juvenile making the transition to his 3-year-old season. That key first sophomore step for McCraken will come when he makes his seasonal bow in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 11, Wilkes said after the unbeaten colt worked five furlongs in a bullet 1:00.45 at Palm Meadows Training Center Jan. 25.

Though he was not an Eclipse Award finalist, McCraken has been getting some of the loudest buzz on the Triple Crown trail outside of newly minted juvenile champion Classic Empire. All three of the bay colt's victories have come at Churchill Downs, including his handy 1 1/4 length triumph in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) Nov. 26.

WINCZE HUGHES: McCraken the Real Deal in KY Jockey Club

In the seven timed works McCraken has recorded since, Wilkes has seen consistent progression and has been particularly pleased with the way his charge finishes up his moves.

"Today was a good maintenance work," Wilkes said. "He did it good, finished up well, (and) galloped out strong. It was everything I wanted, so I'm very pleased with it.

"He's not a big robust horse, but he runs big and  I think he's doing well. He has a great turn of foot and that's the main thing."

McCraken first unleashed his late-running kick when he broke his maiden by 2 1/2 lengths going 6 1/2 furlongs Oct. 2. He handled his step into stakes company with a nonchalant shrug, as he recorded a 3 3/4-length win in the one-mile Street Sense Stakes 28 days later.

In terms of both his pedigree—out of a Seeking the Gold mare—and his running style, Wilkes has reason to believe McCraken will continue to improve with added distance. He also has heard and read what others are saying in terms of him having one of the most talented sophomores currently in training.

He just doesn't want to go down the path of proclaiming too much too soon.

"I'm going to take one race at a time first. That's the old cliche—you don't want to get too far ahead," Wilkes said. "Let's just evaluate off (the Sam Davis) and then we can try and build off of that. It is a good position to be in, though. You are always anxious to get them started and see what we have.

"It looks like he's progressing that way, so it's encouraging."