Fort Larned, reigning winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic and a dominant
winner of the Stephen Foster Handicap, returned to the track at Churchill Downs
on Saturday to resume his preparations for bid for a second consecutive victory
in the Classic at Santa Anita.
The gallop by the six-year-old son of E Dubai was Fort Larned’s first journey
to the track since trainer Ian Wilkes announced on August 29 that a muscle
strain would knock his star out of a planned run in the Woodward at Saratoga two
days later.
“He got back (to Churchill Downs) on Wednesday and I rode him in the shed,
but I tracked him today,” Wilkes said. “He looked good.”
The November 2 Breeders’ Cup Classic remains the ultimate goal for Fort
Larned, but Wilkes has the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park on
September 28 penciled in as a near-term objective. Whether he makes that race
will depend on his progress over his home track at Churchill Downs during the
next few days.
His 6 1/2-length victory in the Stephen Foster remains the only victory in
four 2013 starts for Fort Larned, but Wilkes continues to express strong
confidence in his horse. He finished fifth to Cross Traffic as the favorite in
Saratoga’s Whitney Handicap, a race he won in 2012, and finished fifth in the
Oaklawn Handicap after stumbling at the start and tossing jockey Brian Hernandez
Jr. in his season debut in the Gulfstream Park Handicap on March 13.
“I really believe that he’s as good as last year,” Wilkes said. “It’s just
been one of those years. If we could start over again — you know, get a
‘re-do,’ we’d be fine. Boy, it’s been a bumpy road.”
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