Wilkes Familiar with McCraken Kin

In January 2011, trainer Ian Wilkes entered Janis Whitham's homebred mare Ivory Empress (Seeking the Gold) in what would be the final start of her career in the six-furlong Minaret S. at Tampa Bay Downs. The versatile dark bay had reached the winner's circle three times from 19 previous tries, gradually climbing through her allowance conditions with wins on the Churchill Downs dirt, the Arlington synthetic and Keeneland's turf course. Ivory Empress had knocked on the door of stakes success in 2010, including a fast-closing runner-up finish in Delaware Park's GIII Endine S., and Wilkes was hopeful that she could break through with a black-type win.

It wasn't meant to be, as Ivory Empress crossed the wire a non-threatening sixth for the second consecutive race. She was subsequently retired and sent to the breeding shed for owner Whitham, whose homebred operation has produced the likes of Wilkes-trained 2012 GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Fort Larned (E Dubai) and four-time Grade I winner Affluent (Affirmed).

“She could run both on turf and dirt, she was stakes-placed,” Wilkes recalled of Ivory Empress. “We just couldn't get a stakes win out of her. She was a super-talented filly, but we just couldn't get her there.”

Six years later, Ivory Empress has more than delivered on her talent as a broodmare, producing undefeated 'TDN Rising Star' and GII Kentucky Jockey Club S. winner McCraken (Ghostzapper), as well as the progressive graded stakes-placed 4-year-old Bondurant (War Front). Wilkes will bring both half-brothers to Tampa Bay Saturday, with McCraken kicking off his sophomore season in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. and Bondurant taking to the turf in the GIII Tampa Bay S.

Equipped with extensive knowledge of McCraken's family as he heads down the road to the GI Kentucky Derby, the Aussie trainer is also entering familiar territory from his days as an assistant to Hall of Famer Carl Nafzger. Wilkes was an important member of Nafzger's team for champion Unbridled's 1990 Derby triumph, as well as Street Sense's 2007 score. Not coincidentally, the latter began his 3-year-old season with a win in the GIII Tampa Bay Derby.

“I've been fortunate, being with Carl through Unbridled, Vicar and Street Sense,” Wilkes said. “You watch, you learn, and being there with Carl, the main thing is to enjoy it. 'Just worry about your own horse,' that's the main thing he's always told me.”

True to Nafzger's advice, Wilkes is only worried about his own horse in the Sam F. Davis. While nobody would blame the trainer for feeling a bit of pressure saddling an unbeaten Kentucky Derby contender in his 3-year-old debut, he said that decisions are being made with the First Saturday in May in mind. Given that McCraken's three victories have all come at Churchill Downs, getting the colt into the starting gate in peak form is his top priority.

“The horse doesn't have to win [Saturday],” Wilkes explained. “My goal is not this race. I think he'll run well, but as long as I get a good race and see improvement, my goal is the Kentucky Derby. That's the key, but I think he'll run well. This horse gives you confidence.”

Surely, some of that confidence comes from McCraken's unblemished record, which also included a win in Churchill's one-mile Street Sense S., defeating subsequent GIII LeComte S. winner Guest Suite (Quality Road) in the process. But Wilkes noted that he is also impressed by what he's seen from the bay in the mornings at Palm Meadows Training Center. Sent southward following his victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club, McCraken has posted nine workouts leading up to Saturday's race.

“I think he's gotten bigger, I think he's gotten stronger,” Wilkes observed. “I'm very pleased with the way he's been training.”

As for Bondurant, the turfer enters the Tampa Bay S. off a narrowly beaten runner-up finish in the GIII Commonwealth Turf S. at Churchill, and could be poised for a fruitful 2017 campaign after winning three times from his first six starts. Given her ability to win over any surface, it is no surprise that Ivory Empress is responsible for a pair of runners with such different profiles.

“Those two are very different horses,” Wilkes offered when asked to compare the siblings. “Talent is the only similarity. If McCraken keeps running like he does on the dirt, he'll never see the grass.”