Trying to become only the second horse to win the Whitney Handicap in
back-to-back years, Fort Larned indicated his readiness for Saturday’s 86th
edition with a bullet five-furlong breeze Monday morning.
NYRA clockers caught the five-year-old bay son of E Dubai going five-eighths
in 1:00 3/5 on the main track under regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. It was the
fastest of 31 works at the distance.
“Everything went good; we’re very happy,” said Ian Wilkes, who trains Fort
Larned for owner Janis Whitham. “It was just how he did it. It was a little
crisp work, just the right way. I put a horse out there in front for him. I
didn’t want to hurt the other horse…but I wanted something for him to look
at.”
Discovery, who won three consecutive Whitneys from 1934-36 when it was
contested at 1 1/4 miles, is the only horse to win the race in successive years.
Hall of Famer Kelso (1961, 1963, 1965) and New York-bred Commentator (2005,
2008) are the only other horses to win the Whitney more than once.
Fort Larned won the 2012 Whitney, run at 1 1/8 miles since 1955, in 1:47 3/5,
beating Ron the Greek by 1 1/4 lengths.
“It would be special,” Wilkes said. “I’m fortunate enough to train a few
horses for Marylou Whitney, which would make it even more special.”
This year, Fort Larned stumbled and lost his rider in his debut, the
Gulfstream Park Handicap in March, then was fifth, beaten 10 1/2 lengths, in the
Oaklawn Handicap on April 13.
Given a freshening, Fort Larned came back to wire the field in the Stephen
Foster Handicap on June 15 at Churchill Downs, his most recent race.
“I feel good,” Wilkes said. “I think he’s a more mature horse right now; he’s
more battle-tested. He’s run some huge races against some of the best
competition.”
The post-position draw for the Whitney will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m.
(EDT) in the Saratoga paddock. Also expected to be entered are Alpha, Cross
Traffic, Csaba, Fast Falcon, Mucho Macho Man and Successful Dan.
Csaba, a four-year-old son of Kitten’s Joy, was a late addition to the
probable field for the Whitney by trainer Phil Gleaves.
The multiple graded stakes winner, who has scored in five of his past seven
starts, was being pointed toward Friday’s Birdstone overnight stakes, and
Gleaves elected to go to the Whitney when that race drew only three entries.
“We were pointing toward the Birdstone, but it is what it is, and it didn’t
fill,” said Gleaves, who is based at Calder. “We’ve come up here with a horse
that is ready to run, so we’ll go in the Whitney.”
Csaba, third last out in the Salvatore Mile at Monmouth, has experience over
the Saratoga main track at the Whitney distance of 1 1/8 miles. Last year, he
was beaten a nose by Quick Wit in an off-the-turf running of the National Museum
of Racing Hall of Fame. Csaba set the fractions throughout the race only to be
caught at the end.
Gleaves had entertained thoughts of running in the Whitney even before the
cancellation of the Birdstone.
“I had it in the back of my mind that if it was a small field we would go in
the Whitney,” he said. “It’s going to be a field of high-quality animals. We’re
going to see where Csaba fits.”
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