Notes & Quotes From the G2 Elkhorn Stakes : Burnham Square

Click here for a replay of the race and the post-race interview with winning connections.

Brian Hernandez Jr. (winning rider of favored Burnham Square)

“We didn’t have the smoothest of trips. Going around the first turn I had to check and kind of got slammed into the rail a little bit. After that, I started to work out a really good trip under the wire the first time following (trainer) Todd (Pletcher)’s horse (Grand Sonata), thinking that he was going to be the horse to beat, but then when we got into the second turn, he ended up checking and getting slammed into the rail, so then we kind of had to reroute for the third time and work our way out from there.

“From the quarter pole home, when I tipped him out, you could tell he was the best horse. I knew he was the best horse, because anytime (trainer) Ian (Wilkes) legs me up and just tells me ‘good luck’ in the paddock, you better be ready to run big races. He did (pick it up quickly in the stretch). When I tipped him outside of (jockey) Luis (Saez on Freedom’s Way) there and asked him for his run, he shot off. For a horse to go a mile and a half and then shoot off the last quarter like he did, I knew it was going to take something really, really impressive to run him down, just because of how quickly he picked it up.”

Ian Wilkes (winning trainer)

“I did (think Burnham Square was going to be a successful long-distance turf horse). The horse gives you confidence. You come in to the race just full of confidence with this horse. I knew how good he was and I knew how good he was doing.”

On plans for the rest of the year with the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland and Burnham Square being graded stakes winner on both dirt and turf

“I’ll get with the Whithams (of owner Whitham Thoroughbreds) and work backwards from the Breeders’ Cup, and yeah, that’s my goal — my end goal is to come here and see if we can repeat that effort. It’s unbelievable what he did on the dirt (last year, winning the Holy Bull-G3 and the Toyota Blue Grass-G1) because that’s an outlier to his whole family. He’s just bred for grass, and the more distance, the better this horse gets.”

Clay Whitham (of winning breeder and owner Whitham Thoroughbreds)

“(This performance) was very exciting. We knew the horse had run well on the turf in his two previous turf starts, and he was always coming on at the end. So we had a lot of confidence that he would run good, but when you’re starting to root for them at the top of the stretch, and you say, ‘Come on!’ and they go right by? That works.”

On the decision to move Burnham Square to turf racing

“I have to tell you, those dollar signs at Kentucky Downs definitely get your attention. We saw that Nashville Derby (Invitational-G3) sitting there, and where (trainer) Ian (Wilkes) trains out at Skylight (Training Center), it’s Polytrack, and (Burnham Square) has always really loved that surface. A good percentage of (sire) Liam’s Map’s stakes winners are turf horses. I actually want to give a shout-out to a horse last year: (multiple Grade 1 turf winner) Deterministic, he’s a (son of) Liam’s Map, and we just saw how well he did on the turf. So that gave us confidence to try (Burnham Square) on the turf.”

John Velazquez (rider of runner-up Desvio)

“I got a good run. He broke well, kind of let him drop back and make one move like I did last time (when he rode Desvio to win Keeneland’s Sycamore-G2 last October). But the outcome was in the winner (performance). I was second. The winner was very impressive today.”

Madison Meyers (trainer of Desvio)

“He broke a lot sharper than he typically does and (jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) was just so smart to take him back and let him relax. You’re lucky when you get someone like him aboard. He just tipped him out like he did last year (in the Sycamore), and he came running. He ran huge off the layoff. He definitely loves this course.”

Meyers arrived at Keeneland about two hours before the race after renting a car to drive from Virginia to Lexington when her flight was canceled

“I drove eight hours and I made it. My staff is great. They have been here with him the past couple of days.”

Gerardo Corrales (rider of third-place finisher Navy Seal-IRE)

“He had a good trip. We were in a good position and had a strong finish.”