Both unraced since August, last year's Blue Grass Stakes (G1) 1-2 finishers Burnham Square and East Avenue returned to the worktab Jan. 25 at Palm Meadows Training Center in Boynton Beach, Fla., ahead of their 4-year-old campaigns, as did classic-placed Gosger.
Burnham Square, who last saw the starting gate while giving a strong first impression in his initial foray into grass racing when runner-up in the Aug. 30 Nashville Derby (G3T), completed an easy half mile in :51.70. Trainer Ian Wilkes said it was Burnham Square's second light work since rejoining the stable after his vacation.
"He's the same horse, but he's a little stronger, a little more mature," Wilkes said. "I wanted to give him a good break after last year and bring him back and plan on him coming back in turf racing."
Wilkes opted to stop on the gelded son of Liam's Map at the end of the summer despite him showing an affinity for the new surface. As a gelding, Wilkes saw it as important to keep some mind on the long term and reward the horse with some time to relax after running 10 races in 10 months.
Wilkes plans to keep Burnham Square on the grass given his pedigree—his dam, Linda, being a grade 2 winner on turf for Wilkes and owner/breeder Whitham Thoroughbreds—but is not going to operate with any planned schedule just yet.
"I don't want to put that pressure on him," Wilkes said of a timeline. "I deliberately started him a little later just because I want him to go longer through the year this year."
Brendan Walsh also does not have a timeline in mind for Godolphin's homebred grade 1 winner East Avenue after he returned with a 3-furlong move in :38.95. East Avenue turned the tables on Burnham Square in the Matt Winn Stakes (G3) but emerged from a lackluster fifth in the Aug. 3 West Virginia Derby (G3) with bone bruising.
Having taken the time to recover, Walsh is pleased with what he's seen so far from the son of Medaglia d'Oro.
"He was always a lovely horse, a big strong horse. But I think he's gotten bigger and stronger again," Walsh said. "He looks fantastic, they did a great job with him there on the farm at Godolphin. He's come back in great health, so hopefully we can have a big win with him here this year."
Harvey A. Clarke Racing Stables' Gosger did not have as long a break since the Nov. 28 Clark Stakes (G2), in which he finished sixth, but Walsh still opted to give him a brief freshening ahead of his 4-year-old campaign. After breezing an easy 4 furlongs in :50.80 Sunday, the Nyquist colt could be back racing around the end of February or the middle of March, according to Walsh.
Walsh-trained Clicquot, winner of the Cotillion Stakes (G1) and fourth in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), is also back in training at Palm Meadows and will return to the worktab "in the next week or two."
"No real plans for any of them yet; we'll just see how the next months go," Walsh said of race targets. "They should all be ready. We're just planning on having them all ready around March, April time, when we'd basically be headed back up north."
