Fort Larned will prep for Classic defense in Homecoming Classic

Fort Larned will prep for Classic defense in Homecoming
Classic

Fort Larned equaled a career-best when earning a 114 BRIS Speed rating for his 6 1/4-length victory in the Stephen Foster (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) Trainer Ian Wilkes has announced a change in the path that Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Fort Larned will travel in his quest to defend his title in the $5 million race at Santa Anita on November 2. Wilkes said Tuesday that Janis Whitham’s homebred five-year-old son of E Dubai would prep in Churchill Downs’ inaugural running of the $175,000 Homecoming Classic during the track’s “Downs After Dark” night racing program on September 28. He had indicated earlier that Fort Larned would travel to New York’s Belmont Park to run in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on the same day. The adjustment in travel and racing plans was revealed following a sharp Tuesday workout by Fort Larned. He zipped five furlongs over fast footing on his home track in :59 4/5 under jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.

Churchill Downs’ clockers recorded internal fractions in the five-furlong
move of :12 2/5, :24 3/5 and :36 3/5. Fort Larned galloped out six furlongs 1:12
2/5 and seven furlongs in 1:25 3/5. The move ranked as second-fastest of 29
works at the distance.

Wilkes said the decision to stay home at Churchill Downs to prep for the
Breeders’ Cup Classic in the new 1 1/8-mile race rather than travel to New York
was made during a discussion with Fort Larned’s owner/breeder.

“Our goal is to try and win the Breeders’ Cup Classic again,” Wilkes said.
“We want to do what we feel is right for the horse. We’ll keep him here and run
him a mile-and-an-eighth. He’s on his track with a one-race ship. Otherwise I’m
going to ship to Belmont and ship back again.

“It just fit into our plans to run him here. If we didn’t have the September
Meet and didn’t have this race, we would have gone to the Jockey Club.”

Tuesday’s work was the second by Fort Larned since he returned to Churchill
Downs from Saratoga, where a muscle strain prompted Wilkes to scrap a scheduled
run by his Breeders’ Cup Classic winner in the Woodward in late August. He
breezed four furlongs over the Churchill Downs surface in :49 4/5 on September
12.

“Brian said he felt great and didn’t feel any different,” Wilkes said. “He
came off the track with authority. He walked off the track like he owned the
place. That’s what I liked about it — he’s got that air of confidence about
him.”

Fort Larned has had an uneven year to this point and his only victory in four
races was a 6 1/4-length romp in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at
Churchill Downs on June 15. He finished fifth to Cross Traffic in his most
recent start, the August 3 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga, a race that Fort Larned
won in 2012. Other notable runs at Churchill Downs by Fort Larned include a
runner-up finish to Successful Dan in the 2012 Alysheba and an allowance race
win in November 2011.

The Stephen Foster is part of the Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge
series and Fort Larned’s victory assured him a spot in the starting gate for his
Classic defense.

His career record stands a 9-2-1 in 23 races with earnings of $4,053,917.

Nominations for the Homecoming Classic were announced last week. Other horses
considered “possible” for the race are Pool Play; Golden Ticket, Windswept,
Agent Di Nozzo and Worldly.

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