NEW KENT, VA-The newest member of the dual-surface Grade I club was inducted Saturday as Burnham Square (Liam's Map) won Virginia's featured race–the GI Arlington Million at Colonial Downs-on a day when the track saw a record handle of $10,790,616.“I really felt this was the race that would be hard to win,” trainer Ian Wilkes said after the race. “Shortening backup, coming from a mile and a half, mile and three-eighths, back to two turns. That's a different type of race, and I was happy the way he did it.”A major player on last year's Triple Crown trail, Burnham Square broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park before sweeping into the GIII Holy Bull Stakes in dominant fashion. Denied as the favorite by future Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief) in the GII Fountain of Youth, he nosed out East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) in a thrilling edition of the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes en route to the Kentucky Derby, where he finished an even sixth. He finished out the season second in the GIII Matt Winn and fifth in the GI Haskell before Wilkes shifted him to the turf for the first time and a star was born.Second by just a head in the GIII Nashville Derby, he got a nice break through the colder season and returned in Florida this February, running second in allowance company before kicking off a three-race win streak that included the GII Elkhorn Stakes and the GIII Louisville Stakes.Cutting back to 1 1/4 miles, the 4-5 favorite was forwardly placed but got squeezed between horses passing the wire the first time by and clearly wanted to go, tugging jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. as he was stuck three wide.“He was a little on the muscle early,” Wilkes said. “I may take the three-quarters [blinker] off of him and just put a little cheater on him. Now I think he's matured enough to have that, and he may just relax and switch off a little more.”Fifth and still caught out into the clubhouse turn, Burnham Square finally got to tuck down a little as the field split into groups of two behind longshot leader Layabout (Laoban). A little more settled as the half went in :48.85, the favorite was able to move up into a bunched-up group ahead of him, shifting out three wide to put in a sustained rally in a joint move with Colonial Downs veteran Integration (Quality Road). Hernandez sat chilly into the final quarter, only pressing the go button as he straightened away with two rivals still to run down on his inside. Finding his best stride in the final sixteenth, he rolled to the front for a stylish win ahead of a photo finish behind him for the minor awards.“He's got a great turn of foot,” Wilkes said. “That's his asset. Even at a mile and quarter, to be able to have that turn of foot, that's a big asset.”Wilkes indicated that Burnham Square would have two more races in 2026, the first coming at Kentucky Downs.“[Kentucky Downs] is more his wheelhouse,” Wilkes said. “The mile and a half, he loves it. He galloped out really good today. He doesn't stop. I think getting him back out to a mile and a half, that's more his strength.”Now a Grade I winner on both turf and dirt, the 4-year-old gelding seems set to have his whole future ahead of him even as a 4-year-old.“I'm fortunate enough to train him. It's not work. It's all him,” Wilkes said. “I can only do what the horse can do running. It's all about the horse, that's the one thing we can't forget about is the horse. As [Hall of Fame trainer] Carl Nafzger always told me, to get a good horse, stay out of his way.”Zooming out past 2026 for his star gelding, Wilkes was all systems go for a return to Colonial Downs and a potential run at John Henry's record as a two-time Arlington Million winner.“He's my John Henry,” Wilkes sad. “That's in my head now that I've won the Arlington Million. He'll have two more races and then get turned out for the year. He'll go to the paddock and have a break. He's a gelding and we'll bring him back next year and map out what to do.”Pedigree Note:One of seven top-level winners for Liam's Map, Burnham Square is out of the graded stakes-winning mare Linda who banked more than $400,000 on the turf herself. She has four winners from five to race and was sold to Springwood for just $55,000 at the 2024 Keeneland January Sale carrying to Oscar Performance. That foal, now the 2-year-old And the Runner Is, was a $400,000 Keeneland September yearling last year to Greenwell Thoroughbreds and ran second in his debut at Saratoga July 12. She has a yearling Life Is Good filly and reported a Gun Runner filly this year before returning to Liam's Map for 2027.Saturday, Colonial DownsARLINGTON MILLION S.-GI, $1,000,000, Colonial Downs, 8-1, 3yo/up, 1 1/4mT, 2:00.80, fm.1–BURNHAM SQUARE, 124, g, 4, by Liam's Map 1st Dam: Linda (GSW, $407,310), by Scat Daddy 2nd Dam: Beautiful Noise, by Sunny's Halo 3rd Dam: Listen Well, by SecretariatO/B-Whitham Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY); T-Ian R. Wilkes; J-BrianJoseph Hernandez, Jr. $607,600. Lifetime Record: 15-7-4-1,$2,884,244. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.2–Gran Oriente (Chi), 122, h, 5, Classic Empire–Oresteia (Chi),by Verrazano. O-Epic Horses, LLC, WSS Racing, LLC, A M AStables, BAG Racing Stables, LLC and Braverman, Paul; B-HarasPaso Nevado (CHI); T-Saffie A. Joseph, Jr. $196,000.3–Dresden Row, 122, h, 5, Lord Nelson–Elle Special, by Giant'sCauseway. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($11,000 Ylg '22 KEEJAN;$70,000 2yo '23 OBSAPR; $575,000 5yo '26 FTDGJA). O-TwinOaks Bloodstock LLC; B-TCR Ranch (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.$98,000.Margins: HF, NO, NK. Odds: 0.80, 8.90, 7.70.Also Ran: Layabout, Fort Washington, Test Score, Integration. Scratched: Mercante. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV. Burnham Square is your 2026 GI Arlington Million winner! pic.twitter.com/3jSKqgd9fJ— Stefanie Grimm (@SGrimmTDN) August 1, 2026The post Burnham Square Joins The Dual-Surface Grade I Winners Club In The Arlington Million appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.