Burnham Square Headlines a Loaded Summer Saturday

Burnham Square Leads the Charge as Summer Racing Heats Up

The Triple Crown trail has gone quiet, with Golden Tempo's gutsy Belmont score last weekend closing the book on the classics, but the sport barely takes a breath. This Saturday and Sunday deliver a coast-to-coast feast of stakes action, and the headliner is a turf marathoner who looks almost impossible to beat.

That would be Burnham Square, Whitham Thoroughbreds' brilliant gelding, who returns Saturday night at Churchill Downs in the $225,000 Chorleywood Stakes at a sweeping mile and three-eighths on the Matt Winn Turf Course. Trained by Ian Wilkes, Burnham Square has emerged as one of North America's top turf marathoners after winning the Elkhorn Stakes by 9 3/4 lengths at Keeneland and last month's Louisville Stakes by 4 3/4 lengths at Churchill Downs. Those were not victories so much as exhibitions. He has been installed as the 2-5 morning-line favorite from the rail under Brian Hernandez Jr., and you would need a vivid imagination to see him losing. Still, eight rivals will try, with Bill Mott sending out a pair in Parchment Party and Timeout, and Florida-bred Echo Lane bringing a strong local turf record into the fray. This is a horse who won the Grade 1 Blue Grass last year before running in the Kentucky Derby, so a listed stakes is a long way beneath his class ceiling. Watch him and enjoy.

Saturday's Churchill card is a doubleheader, and the supporting feature is well worth your attention. Hat Creek Racing's Ashland Stakes winner Percy's Bar returns Saturday when she faces six fellow 3-year-old fillies in the $175,000 Monomoy Girl Overnight Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Trained by Ben Colebrook, Percy's Bar emerged as one of the top 2-year-old fillies in her division last season and was tabbed the 7-5 morning-line favorite. A Grade 1 winner dropping into an overnight stakes is exactly the kind of class edge that makes a race worth a long look.

Out West, Santa Anita closes its spring meet with a flourish. Saturday's card features the Grade 3 Summertime Oaks at 1 1/16 miles, where Bob Baffert unveils a filly with real buzz. The program favorite, Mizumi, exits a promising debut win going 6 1/2 furlongs on May 2nd for Baffert. The daughter of Justify breaks from the rail under Juan Hernandez at odds of 4-5, stepping straight from a maiden score into graded company, which tells you what her connections think of her. She will have to handle the seasoned Bank Shot, third in both the Santa Anita Oaks and Las Virgenes, and the dual-surface threat Marjoram, a recent Grade 3 turf winner for Juddmonte. The same Santa Anita card also offers the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes, an overflow turf sprint down the hillside course, so there is plenty to chew on.

Sunday belongs to the West Coast, with Santa Anita's closing-day feature, the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano, a true marathon at about 1 3/4 miles on the turf. The story here is a beloved veteran: Grade 1-winning multi-millionaire Gold Phoenix figures to be a heavy favorite in the $100,000 feature. An 8-year-old gelding with 32 starts and more than $2.3 million in earnings, Gold Phoenix is now in his fifth season based at Santa Anita with trainer Phil D'Amato. He has never tried this distance, which adds intrigue, and he must turn back stubborn Rimprotector, who has finished third in this race twice before. For a battle-tested 8-year-old with nine graded wins on his ledger, one more marathon on home turf is a fitting way to send off the meet.

From a near-certainty in Kentucky to a Baffert baby out West and a seasoned veteran chasing one more distance test, this weekend has a little of everything.