Whitham Thoroughbreds

Last week in this new series, we put the spotlight on some of the trends--or lack thereof--among the mares that make up the Grade I-producing ranks of 2025 and spent time with multiple Grade I winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Locked (Gun Runner)'s dam, Luna Rosa (Malibu Moon). We asked her connections about her story and the thoughts behind her matings. This week, we do the same with the dams of two Grade I-winning 3-year-olds of 2025: GI Curlin Florida Derby star Tappan Street (Into Mischief) and GI Toyota Blue...

Whitham Thoroughbreds' Burnham Square (Liam's Map), coming off a troubled sixth-place effort in the GI Kentucky Derby, is now being aimed at the June 8 GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs, trainer Ian Wilkes confirmed. Jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. had to check repeatedly aboard Burnham Square in the Derby when when Admire Daytona (Jpn) (Drefong) slowed abruptly in front of him. "In a 20-horse field, somebody is going to have trouble and I guess it was my turn," Wilkes said the morning after the race. "I thought he ran...

Whitham Thoroughbred's homebred Burnham Square (g, 3, Liam's Map--Linda, by Scat Daddy), a disappointing fourth as the 9-5 favorite in the GII Coolmore Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream Park last out Mar. 1, bounced back in a big way with a well-timed, last-to-first, nose victory over 'TDN Rising Star' East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) in Tuesday's postponed GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland. It was another 3/4 of a length back to 'TDN Rising Star' River Thames (Maclean's Music) in third. Favored MGISW and 'TDN Rising Star' Chancer McPatrick...

Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC's Burnham Square (Liam's Map), who won the GIII Holy Bull Stakes Feb. 1 but finished fourth Saturday as the 9-5 choice in the GII Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park, will most likely skip Gulfstream's GI Florida Derby Mar. 29 and instead ship to Keeneland for the GI Blue Grass Stakes Apr. 5. "He'll probably go to the Blue Grass," said trainer Ian Wilkes. "I've got to ship sometime." Wilkes also noted the extra week between the Florida Derby and the Blue Grass "won't hurt him."...

Whitham Thoroughbreds' Burnham Square (Liam's Map), winner of Saturday's GIII Holy Bull Stakes, exited the Triple Crown prep 'bright and alert' and could return in Gulfstream's GII Fountain of Youth Stakes in four weeks. According to trainer Ian Wilkes Sunday, Burnham Square "came out fine and jogged good this morning" at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. The gelding earned 20 GI Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his 1 3/4-length triumph. Second in Gulfstream's series of dirt races for 3-year-olds on the road to the $1-million...

Trainer Ian Wilkes has spent enough time in this business to know that not every animal is straight-forward. More times than not, a cagey veteran such as Wilkes finds the key to unlock his runners' true ability, and that seems to be the case with Whitham Thoroughbreds' Burnham Square (Liam's Map), who won his second straight since the addition of a set of blinkers and joined the Triple Crown fray in earnest in Saturday's GIII Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. "The key is the blinkers. I had to put...

Denali Stud-consigned Walkathon (Twirling Candy) sold Tuesday at the first session of the Keeneland November sale to Emmanuel de Seroux for $1.5 million. Sold as a racing or broodmare prospect, the 5-year-old bay is a multiple graded winner who is out of GSW Walkabout (Stroll), a half-sister to GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Fort Larned (E Dubai). Walkathon was bred by Whitham Thoroughbreds, who campaigned her third dam, two-time champion Bayakoa (Arg). De Seroux purchased Hip 101 for Japan's Grand Stud.

Mandy Pope's Whisper Hill Farm was active, per usual, at the top of the market at Fasig-Tipton November Sunday evening, and Pope picked up right where she left off Monday across town at Keeneland. She went to $2.3 million to pick up 5-year-old racing or broodmare prospect Four Graces (Majesticperfection), a MGSW/GISP half-sister to MGSW young sire McCraken from a deep Whitham family. The near $500,000 earner was consigned by Denali Stud has hip 192.

Hall of Fame inductee Bayakoa (Arg) (Consultant's Bid) put Frank and Janis Whitham's racing program on the map when she won the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in 1989 and again in 1990. Over two decades later, Bayakoa's great-granddaughter Walkathon (Twirling Candy) is carrying out her female family's accomplished legacy. Last weekend, the 3-year-old Whitham homebred trained by Ian Wilkes got her first graded stakes win in the GIII Regret S. Still a maiden after her first four starts, Walkathon switched to the turf this spring and reeled off consecutive scores...

Walkathon got the jump on odds-on McKulick and kept finding in the lane to make the grade and stay unbeaten on gras while becoming jockey Julien Leparoux's 1000th winner at Churchill Downs. Having finished second and fourth in her second and third starts, respectively, sprinting on the main track, Walkathon was runner-up in a rained-onto-Tapeta Gulfstream route Feb. 13. She resurfaced to graduate over the Keeneland turf Apr. 22, and was flattered when the next two finishers came back to earn their own diplomas. The Whitham homebred was coming off...

6th-Ellis, $50,220, Msw, 8-29, 3yo/up, 7f, 1:21.96, ft, 8 lengths. MILLIKEN (c, 3, Into Mischief--Ivory Empress {GSP, $189,402}, by Seeking the Gold), a half to 'TDN Rising Stars' McCraken (Ghostzapper), MGSW & GISP, $869,728; and Four Graces (Majesticperfection), MGSW, $261,246, got off to a belated but auspicious start to his own career here at 5-2 odds. Showing good tactical speed to draft behind the top flight while savig ground, the bay was guided through a wide-open rail around the bend and all of a sudden had the lead after a...

Hammered into heavy favoritism with a recency edge over the come-backing 'TDN Rising Star' Wicked Whisper (Liam's Map), Whitham Thoroughbreds's Four Graces proved the easy winner of Friday's GIII Beaumont S., stopping the clock in a stakes and track-record clocking of 1:24.90 for the extended seven-furlong distance. Ridden for speed by Julien Leparoux over a track that had been playing kindly to front-end types, the homebred half-sister to McCraken (Ghostzapper) set a pressured pace from last year's GI Frizette S. winner Wicked Whisper, as they whistled through an opening half-mile...