Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC's Burnham Square (Liam's Map) breezed an easy half-mile at Palm Meadows Training Center Saturday morning in preparation for a scheduled start in the GII Fountain of Youth Mar. 1 at Gulfstream Park.
He was timed in :50.05 (49/82) in his first official workout since scoring a 1 3/4-length victory in the GIII Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Feb. 1.
“He worked this morning, just a nice maintenance work, galloped out good,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “I'm very happy.”
Wilkes continued, “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 really nice.”
Wilkes added, “I think he's actually better now than he was going into [the Holy Bull]. 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 'TDN Rising Star' River Thames (Maclean's Music), who launched his career with two impressive victories at Gulfstream, including an optional claimer going a one-turn mile Feb. 1.
“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,” Pletcher said. “We're leaning that way at the moment.”
Pletcher added, “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. You always get added encouragement anytime they've been over it a couple times.”
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