Barn Tour: Ian Wilkes on Burnham Square + 8 others

Trainer Ian Wilkes clearly knows how to do more with less.

Wilkes told Horse Racing Nation that his stable hasn’t fully recovered from losing 20 horses in the dispersal sale of late owner Robert Lothenbach in 2023.

But now, with about 45 horses in his stable, “we've got a lot of better quality horses.”

So much better that he’s heading to his second Kentucky Derby with Burnham Square, the top points earner for the run for the roses after his win in the Grade 1 Blue Grass.

Wilkes, who finished eighth in the 2017 Derby with McCracken, knows what he’s up against on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

“It gets deeper,” he said. “It's the ultimate test. I need to be the best horse on the first Saturday of May.”

Wilkes said the son of Liam’s Map is “a little bit of a plain wrapper. Nothing special. He's a gelding. If he was a colt, he wouldn't be where he is today.”

Burnham Square approaches training differently from racing. “He trains really well in the morning,” Wilkes said. “He's very good. But in a race, he needs blinkers. He's not very sociable with all his other friends. He wants to run away from them. The blinkers help him in the afternoon. But in the morning, he has no problem working inside, outside the horse without blinkers, no problem at all.”

Burnham Square broke his maiden in December at Gulfstream Park on his third try. He won the Holy Bull (G3) by 1 3/4 lengths over Tappan Street, then was fourth in the Fountain of Youth (G2) before his win at Keeneland.

Wilkes has another graded-stakes winner this year with Positano Sunset, winner of the Madison (G1) last out. He provided updates on her and other talented runners for HRN’s Barn Tour series.

Positano Sunset. The 5-year-old Goldencents mare is 2-for-2 this year after going 0-for-7 last year. Before the Madison, she won a Tampa Bay Downs handicap. “This year, I think she's come back better than ever, matured” Wilkes said. “She's a 5-year-old now. Horses don't mature until they get 5. Last year she ran good, but I just couldn't get her over the hump. … She came off a 3-year-old year from a condylar fracture and yet luckily she was sound. But I think it was all mental with her, just trusting everything was good. I gave her a break this winter, and she's just come back a different horse this year.” Look for her next in the Derby City Distaff (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Uno Mas Bourbon. The 4-year-old son of Macho Uno got his first stakes win in the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs then was third in both the Fayette (G2) and Clark (G2). In his only start this year, he was third in an optional-claiming allowance at Gulfstream in February. “He's got better and better, this horse. He won the Super Derby last year, he ran third in the Fayette, third in the Clark. Nice races, had a good first race back this year. And he's going to run in the Ben Ali (G3 at Keeneland on Saturday). Nice horse, you know. He's just getting better, he's improving.”

Into Champagne. The 4-year-old Into Mischief filly took the rest of 2024 off after finishing seventh in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). She debuted this year with a third-place finish in the Hurricane Bertie (G3) and was third in an optional-claiming allowance at Keeneland on Sunday. “I was a little disappointed with her (Sunday). I thought she'd be very tough. But she came out of the race good, all good. But what she's telling me, she doesn't want to be ridden like she was as a 3-year-old filly, where she had natural speed, wanted to lay up close. That was her. She doesn't want to do that now. She wants to drop back and make a one-run type of course, and I think that's her MO now.”

Just Basking. Off since finishing seventh in the Alabama (G1) in August, after which she cut herself, the 4-year-old Arrogate filly was third in a March 18 optional-claiming allowance, her only start this year. “Very good filly. She's going to run in the Bewitched at Keeneland at a mile and a half on the grass. She'll love that. She'll eat this up, being that distance and everything. I think she's going to be a very exciting filly this year.” As for her 2025 debut, Wilkes said, “they went very slow. She was stuck at the back of the field, and galloped out great. But we'll see the true test when we get to a mile and a half.”

Justifiable Belle. The 5-year-old Justify mare has a record of 12: 3-3-1 and has yet to start in a stakes. “Justifiable Bell was scratched from Keeneland off the turf. Plan to run her opening day at Churchill” in an allowance, then move to stakes company.

Bourbon Thief. The 4-year-old daughter of Tapwrit also has not had a stakes start and is coming off an optional-claiming allowance win at Gulfstream last month. She’s entered in an allowance at Keeneland on Friday. “Nice filly. She's improving. This filly's improving. Her races last year on the grass were really good. And then she followed it up this winter with a couple of nice races down in Florida, and she's trained very well since.”

Camp Hale. This 3-year-old gelding by Mo Town is a “professional maiden,” Wilkes said. He has run second in four maiden special weights and was fourth in the Sam F. Davis. “Very talented horse, got a world of talent. He just runs into someone just a little better than him on the day. But I figured him out. I think his MO is no further than six furlongs. Six furlongs is his limit, and that's where I'll keep him at, is six.”

Pitkin. The 3-year-old Nyquist colt, unraced as a 2-year-old, is winless in three maiden special weight attempts. “He ran two seconds and then he ran fourth at Keeneland. He stumbled out the gates, grabbed a quarter, and that hurt his race there. But he'd run second to (Gosger), the horse that won the Lexington (G3). Nice colt. I'm toying with the idea of putting him on the grass next time or running back on the dirt. I'm not sure yet.”