Photo:

Gulfstream Park / Ryan Thompson

Burnham Square came up short of winning his third straight victory of Gulfstream Park’s 2024-25 championship meet when finishing fourth in last Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, but trainer Ian Wilkes is forging ahead with the Liam’s Map gelding on the road to Kentucky Derby 2025.

After breaking his maiden, winning the Holy Bull (G3) and being beaten less than three lengths by Sovereignty in the Fountain of Youth, Burnham Square is likely to bypass the Florida Derby (G1) on March 29 at Gulfstream and return in the Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland on April 5.

“He’ll probably go to the Blue Grass. I’ve got to ship sometime,” Wilkes said, noting that the extra week between the Florida Derby and Blue Grass “won’t hurt him.”

Burnham Square, who was last of six after the first quarter-mile in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, ran in spots before finishing with energy to miss third by a neck.

“He made some mistakes in the race, but he did some good things too,” Wilkes said before saddling the winner of Wednesday’s first race. “He came running down the lane and galloped out good.”