Clay Whitham

This is one of those programs, temperate and patient, that nourish the very marrow of our industry. It has never comprised more than around 10 mares, whose foals are brought into the world not just to make a fast buck but actually to go out there and run. Whitham Thoroughbreds is run by an octogenarian widow and her son: they devise matings to draw out speed into a second turn; they're not scared of using a turf stallion from time to time; and they work with horsemen who operate on...

Hall of Fame inductee Bayakoa (Arg) (Consultant's Bid) put Frank and Janis Whitham's racing program on the map when she won the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in 1989 and again in 1990. Over two decades later, Bayakoa's great-granddaughter Walkathon (Twirling Candy) is carrying out her female family's accomplished legacy. Last weekend, the 3-year-old Whitham homebred trained by Ian Wilkes got her first graded stakes win in the GIII Regret S. Still a maiden after her first four starts, Walkathon switched to the turf this spring and reeled off consecutive scores...