Ian Wilkes plans another Breeders’ Cup stint with Fort Larned in 2013
The 4-year-old old winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic, Fort Larned, and his connections are aiming at another Breeders’ Cup World Championships, after the colt’s taxing effort to win the richest Breeders’ Cup race.
Trainer Ian Wilkes will give the E Dubai colt a well deserved rest after a hectic season in which he had to run nine times, and with just one blemish in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, where he finished eighth, Fort Larned has mostly hit the board this season.
The plan is to rest the Janis R. Whitham’s colt and bring him back in the Gulfstream Park’s winter meet, where he has raced just once, and won the Grade 3 Skip Away Stakes back in March.
"He is going to get a little break and then go to Gulfstream for the winter," Wilkes said. "I will talk it over with the Whitham family (Fort Larned's owners) and plan backward to get back here (next year).
"One race I would like to run in is the Stephen Foster. I really want to do better than he did this year (finishing last of eight)."
In the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Fort Larned with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. broke swiftly and vied for the lead early on, maintained it until the end, and had to fend off Mucho Macho Man, who gave the winner a run for his money, as Flat Out finished in third another 6 ½ lengths.
Out of Broad Brush mare Arlucea, Fort Larned mostly dwelled in allowance, allowance optional claimers in his sophomore career, in which he raced mostly, except a maiden attempt as a juvenile.
However, the colt shined under Wilkes’ wing, and took the older handicap division by storm in his 4-year-old campaign by taking the Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and Skip Away Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
He shook lose in June, by taking back-to-back in the shape of Grade 3 Cornhusker Handicap and then the big one in August, the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga.
Prior to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Fort Larned was exiting third place finish in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Tags: