Nashville Derby media notes: Burnham Square gets shot at turf
FRANKLIN, Ky. (Friday, Aug. 29, 2025) — Even before Burnham Square won Keeneland’s Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass to earn a shot at the Kentucky Derby, owner Clay Whitham and trainer Ian Wilkes were very aware of the date of the $3.5 million DK Horse Nashville Derby this Saturday at Kentucky Downs.
After the gelding finished fifth in Monmouth Park’s Haskell Invitational, running in the 1 5/16-mile, Grade 3 turf stakes in their backyard became a no-brainer. So Burnham Square — one of four Kentucky Derby starters in the capacity field of twelve 3-year-olds — makes his first start on turf in the Nashville Derby, which will be televised live by NBC. Also on the 3-5 p.m. Central broadcast are the $2 million The Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint (G2) and $2 million Never Say Die Ladies Turf Sprint (G2).
“Obviously you can’t ignore the size of the purse there at the Nashville Derby,” said Whitham, who oversees his family’s Whitham Thoroughbreds, which also bred Burnham Square. “We’d seen it sitting out there, going back a ways. It’s certainly been in the back of our minds, really all the way back to Keeneland, to take a shot at this race. If he would have won his last race, or even been a good second, there’s a good chance we’d have stayed on the dirt with him. Like they say, you’re only a 3-year-old once.”
Usually, the biggest money for 3-year-olds is on the dirt. Now the Nashville Derby purse ranks only behind the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Breeders’ Cup Turf in America. Of the $3.5 million purse, $1.5 million is available only to registered Kentucky-bred horses. That covers 11 of the 12 horses in the body of the race, the exception being 7-2 program favorite Wimbledon Hawkeye. Even the $2 million base purse makes the Nashville Derby the richest turf race in America outside the Breeders’ Cup.
“Basically, it encourages us to take a shot,” Whitham said by phone. “… Obviously, when you have a 3-year-old on the Derby trail, you’ve got to follow that out and see how that turns out. But we always had it in the back of our mind that if he didn’t keep moving up in those dirt races, trying him on the turf in this race was Plan B. The Haskell was one of those where you’d really like to throw it out. That was the worst race he’s run, period. We’d like to draw a line through that one and try him in the Nashville Derby.”
Listening to Whitham, Wilkes and jockey Brian Hernandez, it’s actually not that big a shot. Burnham Square’s pedigree screams turf on the female side. He also has trained since his Kentucky Derby sixth place over the synthetic surface at the Skylight training center in Oldham County outside of Louisville, where Wilkes keeps a division in addition to Churchill Downs.
“We’re really optimistic it will be a good fit for him,” Whitham said. “He’s never run on the turf, and he’s never worked on the turf. But he does work on the synthetic at Skylight, and he really enjoys that. That encourages us, and he has turf runners in his pedigree. Liam’s Map’s top-level stakes horses, they’re just as likely to be turf horses as dirt horses.”
Burnham Square’s dam, Grade 2 winner Linda, ran twice at Kentucky Downs, winning an allowance race and finishing third in what now is the $2 million Resolute Racing Ladies Turf (G3). Hernandez rode Linda for most of her career.
“We really love turf horses,” Whitham said. “But we do tend to start them out on dirt and see how they do. He did so well when he started out on the dirt, that we never had a reason to take him off that surface. If he really likes the turf, he should have a good shot in there. We’ve run a lot at Kentucky Downs, even before the big increase in purses. We’ve had pretty good luck down there, so we’re hoping to keep that going.”
That includes Whitham, Wilkes and Hernandez teaming to win last year’s Ladies Turf with Walkathon.
Hernandez said he worked Burnham Square a couple of times between Churchill Downs’ G3 Matt Winn, in which he was a close second behind front-running East Avenue in a four-horse field, and the Haskell.
“The one time, he came home the last eighth-mile in like 10-and-3, something crazy fast,” Hernandez said. “Ian right after said, ‘You know, we might want to think about grass with him.’ In the Haskell, he just kind of went around there and climbed up and down the whole way.’ Walking back through the tunnel there at Monmouth, Ian goes, ‘I think we need to try the Nashville Derby with him.’ Three-and-a-half million makes you want to give a horse a chance. You win a race like that, it sets your whole year up, especially after winning a race like the Blue Grass.”
“We’ve said all along that he definitely overachieved on the dirt to jump up and win the Blue Grass. We’re going into this race with a lot of confidence, like we have in the past. We’re thinking he’s going to take to the grass. He’s the type of horse that doesn’t take the kickback well. I think in the Derby, the reason he was a little closer is because it was a really sloppy track that day, and he wasn’t getting a whole lot of dirt to him.”
While Burnham Square is a confirmed closer on dirt, neither Wilkes nor Hernandez has any idea where the gelding might put himself on grass.
“With him, you have to see how he’s going to travel around that first turn,” Hernandez said. “He could be a lot closer than we’ve seen him in the past. If he’s traveling and doing it well, we’ll just leave him where he’s at.”
Burnham Square is 6-1 in the morning line. As far as the competition, Hernandez said, “When you go to a place like this, you’ve got to worry about the horse underneath you and not those around you.”
Ruby winner Final Gambit seeks first turf victory
Juddmonte Farm’s G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Final Gambit has run well on turf, synthetic and dirt, with a fourth place in the Kentucky Derby. He finished fifth in both the G1 Belmont Derby and G1 Saratoga Derby — beaten 2 and 2 3/4 lengths, respectively, in those grass stakes in his last two starts. Test Score, the 1 5/16-mile Nashville Derby second choice, won the Belmont Derby and was a good third in the Saratoga Derby.
“He settled in great,” said Brad Cox’s assistant trainer Trace Messina, who is overseeing the stable’s horses at Kentucky Downs. “He shipped in on Tuesday afternoon. Had a nice gallop Wednesday, another good gallop Thursday and another good gallop this morning. So three gallops over this track. I think that’s key for these horses, to get a little bit of experience before they go over there for the race. He shipped in great. Ate great. Eating some grass.
“A lot of horses in the race are kind of taking a chance, a lot of dirt horses in there. Obviously Test Score is proven on turf in America. The European horse (Wimbledon Hawkeye) on the extreme outside. Other than that, it’s a wide-open race. Everyone has a chance in there, it looks like. The way he’s galloped over the track, we think he’ll like it. He’s a winner on synthetic. He’s proven he’s capable of running a good race on grass, and obviously he ran fourth in the Derby. Whatever surface we’ve thrown him on so far, it hasn’t seemed to bother him.”
The Cox stable got off to a fast start at the seven-day meet, with a pair of wins on Thursday’s opening card: the first race with the maiden Aggressive Lime and the third race allowance with Stellify, whose owners include Messina’s dad, George, his uncle Michael Lee and Elements Racing.
George Messina right now has just two horses in training. The other is Belmont Oaks (G1) winner Fionn, who will run in the closing-day $2 million Blackwood Dueling Grounds Oaks (G3).
Nashville Derby “a tremendous opportunity” for Test Score
Amerman Racing’s Test Score is the 4-1 second choice in the Nashville Derby behind Britain’s 7-2 favorite Wimbledon Hawkeye. In his last two races, Test Score won the G1 Belmont Derby and was a close third in the G1 Saratoga Derby. Jockey Manny Franco has the return mount.
“He’s very tough,” trainer Graham Motion said by phone. “He always seems to put everything out there. Manny has a good relationship with him. I think they understand each other, which is a big help. And I think this is a distance that should be in his scope. Kentucky Downs is always so different than what they do anywhere else. But it would seem like this is something he should handle.
“He is a remarkably consistent horse. The only real puzzle was his one race at Saratoga last year, when I threw him into the deep end a little bit in the stakes at the end of the meet, the With Anticipation.”
Motion said Test Score didn’t lose any stature in the Saratoga Derby defeat to World Beater, a horse he beat in the Belmont Derby.
“I think he ran his best (speed figure) number,” he said. “I think they are two really nice horses.”
Of the Nashville Derby, he said, “It’s going to be a very competitive race, no doubt about it, for the kind of money it is. The turf course will be a fresh course, which is great. It’s a tremendous opportunity for him. Mr. (John) Amerman and I talked about it and thought this is something we should do with him.”
Tiztastic seeks to regain Kentucky Downs mojo
Nashville Derby contender Tiztastic last year helped make running twice during the short Kentucky Downs meet a mini-trend. After earning his first victory in the opening-day $250,000 Keeneland September Sales allowance race for colts, Tiztastic won the $1 million Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile 10 days later.
Fast forward to this year and Tiztastic earned his Kentucky Derby shot with a victory in the G2 Louisiana Derby, then finished 10th in the Churchill Downs classic. After a couple of disappointing runs back on turf, Tiztastic’s team is hoping their strapping colt regains his Kentucky Downs mojo.
“He’s done so well here,” said Ron Winchell, co-owner of Tiztastic and co-managing partner of The Mint Gaming properties and Kentucky Downs. “We debated to bring him back or not. But he ran two great races here. We’ll bring him back and see how he does.”
“The horse goes into the Kentucky Derby this year as the leading earner,” said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who tied for the Kentucky Downs training title last year. “With the great group of 3-year-olds out there, he’s the leading earner – because of his two wins last year.
“It’s just an unbelievable meet. I’m extremely excited about how important Kentucky Downs is becoming and enjoy the chance to race here.”
To the extent that Asmussen plans to run eight horses on Saturday and 10 on Sunday. “It’s where the money’s at,” he said.
Britain’s Wimbledon Hawkeye gets familiar with course
Wimbledon Hawkeye — trying to become the second straight British horse to win the Nashville Derby following Bellum Justum last year — trained on the Kentucky Downs course for the first time Friday morning after the European contingent arrived from Churchill Downs Thursday. Laura Pearson, a jockey in the U.K., came to get on Wimbledon Hawkeye in training.
“He trained very well this morning,” said Ryan King, assistant to trainer James Owen. “He’s come alive, as I’d said he would, and we’re looking forward to the race. It’s a great track, like a European track: up and down, long straight. It’s a lovely track.”
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