Fort Larned will prep for Classic defense in Homecoming Classic

Fort Larned will prep for Classic defense in Homecoming

Classic

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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