Burnham Square

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) was back in the news earlier this month when the HISA Board of Directors ruled that there would be no change to the status quo when it came to the rules regarding Lasix. That decision came after HISA commissioned a number of studies to look into the effects of the medication. To discuss the Lasix decision, another drop in the number of fatalities, the controversies surrounding why so many pre-race vet reviews are leading to scratches, the HERF initiative and more, HISA CEO...

Everybody knows Glennwood to be a paragon of its type yet somehow few farms seem able to treat it as a model. For one thing, John Gunther and his daughter Tanya have shown that ultimately there is nothing more commercial than putting winners under your mare, a rather inconvenient lesson for those who favor the just-add-water solution of remorselessly using one rookie sire after another. More fundamentally, however, it's pardonably difficult for anyone to emulate the sheer skill with which the Gunthers cultivate their families. When Scat Daddy disastrously dropped...

Burnham Square captured his second straight graded victory with another dominant victory over 12 furlongs over the turf in the GIII Louisville Stakes at Churchill Downs Saturday night. The heavy favorite was unhurried and settled off the pace while well in hand. He improved his position down the backstretch and burst up to engage the pacesetters with a three-wide move into the stretch. He bound to the lead with a furlong to go and sailed clear to the wire. "He was very professional again tonight," winning trainer Ian Wilkes said....

It's not every day that the GI Toyota Blue Grass winner reinvents himself as a marathon turf specialist, but Burnham Square (Liam's Map) has done just that in the GII Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland Saturday afternoon. Last year's victor of the aforementioned Kentucky Derby prep race, the Ian Wilkes trainee performed well enough over the main track after running sixth in the GI Kentucky Derby, but had not returned to the winner's enclosure until this race. He hit the board in the GIII Matt Winn Stakes across town at Churchill,...

Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator), who acted up badly on the plane that was meant to transport him to California for Saturday's GI Santa Anita Handicap and was subsequently scratched, is possible for one of two races over the coming weeks. "I always look at it as everything happens for a reason. No regrets," said trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., who saddles three horses in Saturday's Barbados Gold Cup in his native country. "He'll probably run at Oaklawn in the Essex, or he'll run at Gulfstream in the Ghostzapper. I'm going to...

The Gredley Family's Wimbledon Hawkeye (GB) (Kameko) made what appeared to be a winning, sweeping move past the quarter pole of Saturday's GIII Nashville Derby at Kentucky Downs, but he was seriously tested in the final furlong by Triple Crown alum Burnham Square (Liam's Map) and dug deep in the final stages to hold that stiff challenge by a head. Though he would be eligible to contest a second-level allowance in this county, Wimbledon Hawkeye's form at two and three reads very strong. Winner of last year's G2 Royal Lodge...

Saturday's card at Monmouth Park features a 14-race card which is highlighted by six stakes--five of them graded--including the Oceanport oval's sophomore showpiece, the GI NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes. This year's renewal of the race has drawn this season's GI Preakness winner Journalism (Curlin), who is campaigned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm and Don Alberto Stable. A mighty good horse before he ever embarked on the Triple Crown, the $825,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase won four of five starts heading to the Run for the Roses, including the GI...

The only horse to run in all three Triple Crown races this season, GI Preakness hero Journalism (Curlin) was tabbed the 4-5 favorite for Saturday's $1-million GI NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes during Monmouth Park's press conference and post-position draw Tuesday. Co-owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables Five, and the Coolmore partners of Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, & Derrick Smith, Journalism was assigned post 2 in the nine-furlong 'Win and You're In' event for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar....

Last week in this new series, we put the spotlight on some of the trends--or lack thereof--among the mares that make up the Grade I-producing ranks of 2025 and spent time with multiple Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner)'s dam, Luna Rosa (Malibu Moon). We asked her connections about her story and the thoughts behind her matings. This week, we do the same with the dams of two Grade I-winning 3-year-olds of 2025: GI Curlin Florida Derby star Tappan Street (Into Mischief) and GI Toyota Blue...

Whitham Thoroughbreds' Burnham Square (Liam's Map), coming off a troubled sixth-place effort in the GI Kentucky Derby, is now being aimed at the June 8 GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs, trainer Ian Wilkes confirmed. Jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. had to check repeatedly aboard Burnham Square in the Derby when when Admire Daytona (Jpn) (Drefong) slowed abruptly in front of him. "In a 20-horse field, somebody is going to have trouble and I guess it was my turn," Wilkes said the morning after the race. "I thought he ran...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Journalism (Curlin) has gotten plenty of ink--and rightfully so--ahead of the 151st running of the GI Kentucky Derby. But here's something that you may not know about the 3-1 morning-line favorite. How did Journalism--campaigned in partnership by the powerhouse partnership of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, breeder Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 and the Coolmore partners (Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith)--get his name? "We have always tried to mimic the Claiborne tradition of naming horses with one-word names with a...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Who's been making the best physical impression in the mornings heading into the GI Kentucky Derby? Our boots on the ground and Senior Racing Editor Steve Sherack reveals his top three favorite workouts recorded from the scratched-down field of 19 beneath the Twin Spires. 1) JOURNALISM April 27, 2025 | 5F | 1:01.40 (18/22) Not only does Journalism (Curlin) have the best form heading into the first Saturday in May. The physically imposing 3-1 morning-line favorite also posted the most visually impressive local breeze of the field,...