McCraken points to Cornhusker

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Ian Wilkes still has the Nov. 3 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill as the year-end goal for McCraken, but he’ll be taking a slight diversion from his original plan for the standout 4-year-old by stretching him out in a longer race.

“We’re going to the Cornhusker,” Wilkes said.

The Grade 3, $300,000 Cornhusker, to be run July 6 as the showcase race at Prairie Meadows in Iowa, goes at 1 1/8 miles. Wilkes believes McCraken is at his best at or around a mile, but “anywhere from seven furlongs to a mile and an eighth, we should be safe,” he said. “We got a late start on the year with him, and he needs to race. I need to keep him in a rhythm.”

McCraken, an earner of $806,828 for owner-breeder Whitham Thoroughbreds, most recently was sixth in the June 9 Met Mile with a spot of traffic trouble. The Ghostzapper colt had his first work since then when breezing an easy half-mile in 49.80 seconds here Wednesday.