Burnham Square Nails East Avenue at the Wire to Win Blue Grass; Both Earn Kentucky Derby Berth

LEXINGTON, KY – Whitham Thoroughbreds’ homebred Burnham Square nosed out East Avenue at the finish to win the 101st running of the $1.25 million Toyota Blue Grass (G1) for 3-year-olds Tuesday afternoon. The race was rescheduled from Saturday because of severe weather and significant rainfall in Central Kentucky.

With the victory, Burnham Square picked up 100 qualifying points toward the 151st running of the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Woodford Reserve to be run May 3 at Churchill Downs.

The Kentucky Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners and invitees that pass the entry box.

Also earning a spot in the Derby starting gate were East Avenue, who picked up 50 points to increase his total to 60 that is good for 13th place, and third-place finisher River Thames, whose 25 points raised his total to 50 and good for 16th place.

Trained by Ian Wilkes and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., Burnham Square completed the 1⅛ miles over a fast track in 1:51.33. It is the second victory in the race for Hernandez, who won the 2020 running with Art Collector.

Luan Machado hustled East Avenue to the lead out of the gate and raced off to an uncontested lead through fractions of :22.95, :46.95 and 1:11.96 as Burnham Square raced at the back of the seven-horse field.

Coming off the final turn, Owen Almighty moved to challenge East Avenue and stuck his head in front briefly only to have East Avenue battle back to regain the lead.

To the outside of the dueling leaders, River Thames and Burnham Square were gaining ground. At the sixteenth pole, Owen Almighty began to fade and Burnham Square pulled clear of River Thames to set up the two-horse duel to the wire.

Today’s race marked the fifth running of the Toyota Blue Grass since the race first was contested at Keeneland in 1937 to be determined by a nose.

Burnham Square is a Kentucky-bred gelded son of Liam’s Map out of the Scat Daddy mare Linda. He is the seventh gelding to win the race and the first since Dominican in 2007.

Winner of the Holy Bull (G3) in February, Burnham Square notched his second stakes victory and improved his record to 6-3-1-1. Tuesday’s winner’s share was $755,625 and increased Burnham Square’s earnings to $977,755.

Burnham Square returned $10.48, $5.18 and $3.34. East Avenue returned $6.42 and $4.26 and finished three-quarters of a length in front of River Thames, who paid $3.24 to show under Irad Ortiz Jr.

It was another 2¼ lengths back to Admiral Dennis with Render Judgment fifth and Owen Almighty and Chancer McPatrick finishing in a dead heat for sixth.

Race Quotes

Brian Hernandez Jr. (winning rider of Burnham Square)
On whether he expected to be so far back in the early stages
“It kind of goes back to (trainer) Ian (Wilkes) trusting us; he doesn’t give us a whole lot of instructions. My son, Ben, and I sat down last night and watched all his races, and we both kind of came up with a plan: Just let him travel, let him cruise along. That’s the nice thing about a horse like him. For a 3-year-old to make such a long run like he did today and be able to run down Grade 1 winners like he did – he’s an exciting horse to move forward with.”

On whether he believed he won the close finish
“When we turned for home my horse had a full head of steam, and I was pretty confident we were going to able to run (pacesetter East Avenue) down. So right at the wire I had an idea that we got our neck in front of him.”

Ian Wilkes (winning trainer)
On Burnham Square’s progress from a maiden claiming runner-up finish at Keeneland in his debut Oct. 26 to now winning the Toyota Blue Grass
“You’d probably have to pinch me, because if you’d asked me before that race, I would not have dreamed I’d be here with him.”

On how he has unlocked Burnham Square’s talent
“He has. He’s taken me there. You know, the horse has taken me everywhere I’ve wanted to go. I’ve just got to try and stay out of his way. The only thing I had to do to help him was put blinkers on him.”

On the difference in Burnham Square’s last three performances
“There are a couple of things. (Winning) the Holy Bull (G3 at Gulfstream Park Feb. 1) was good. The Fountain of Youth (G2 at Gulfstream March 1, when he finished fourth), maybe I was just – I  had to go easy. He’s not a big, robust horse, and I was probably a little kind on him coming in to that race, wasn’t as hard on him as what I wanted to be. Then I trained him a little more for here because I needed (Kentucky Derby) points, so I couldn’t mess around. We had to step up and get a little more serious now. But his (speed) number was better in the Fountain of Youth than it was in the Holy Bull.”

On managing Burnham Square up to the Kentucky Derby
“I’ll watch him. He’ll tell me what I need to do. But we have to keep the foot on the gas – got to keep the foot down on the pedal – because we’ve got to get a little better again. It’s going to be very deep waters, and we’ve got to get a lot better.”

Luan Machado (rider of runner-up East Avenue)
“We went really quick from the start, but the horse came back to me. It was a little aggressive,  
and he dropped a little bit in the second half (of the race). He dug deep and he fought back. He tried his best to get him, and I am happy with him.” 

Brendan Walsh (trainer of East Avenue)
“I loved how he battled. He looked at the head of the straight like he was going to fold and he didn’t fold, and I think it’s a good sign for the future. I think he’s a horse that can still improve. It’s nice to see him run a race like that. 

On whether he will continue to the Kentucky Derby
“We’d have to seriously consider it. We’ll go back and talk among ourselves and see what we do. But I loved what I saw today. We’re a little disappointed we didn’t win, but it’s the next best thing; at least he showed up today. He’s the horse we’ve always thought he was.” 

East Avenue likely will relocate to Churchill Downs during the coming week. 

Irad Ortiz Jr. (rider of third-place finisher River Thames)
“Can’t complain, he put up one hell of a race. He got beat by two nice horses. He gave me everything. I think it was set up perfect for me. I thought I got the chance to run for home, but they followed all the way to the wire. It was a great race.”

Todd Pletcher (trainer of River Thames)
“I thought he ran terrific. We got the trip we were hoping to get. We kind of anticipated the pace would unfold the way it did, and we were in the position we wanted to be. The turn for home we had a chance and kept trying all the way to the wire but couldn’t quite get there. 

“I think (it was a step forward). It was the first time at a mile and an eighth. It seemed like he stuck it out pretty well, and he’s come a long way in a short period of time. It was a good effort; we just couldn’t quite get there.”

On heading to the Kentucky Derby
“We will let the dust settle. I’ll talk to all the connections, and we will come up with a game plan.” 

Flavien Prat (rider of favored Chancer McPatrick, who finished in a dead heat for sixth with Owen Almighty)
“I thought I had a good trip, but when he had a chance to make a run, he didn’t.” 

Brian Lynch (trainer of Owen Almighty)
“He had the perfect trip and had every chance to make it his race, but he came up a little empty when we needed it. I don’t think the Derby is the way we will go. We’ll regroup and talk with our people and come up with another plan.”