Will Walden

So Like Silk (Tapit), the first foal out of her Grade I-winning dam, put in a winning debut on opening day at Horseshoe Indianapolis Tuesday. Purchased by OXO Equine for $925,000 as a yearling at Keeneland September in 2024, the 3-1 second choice drew outside and was caught wide for most of the run in this six-furlong spot. Unable to keep pace with the early sprinters, she had to settle back mid pack in sixth while still well in touch with 13-1 longshot leader Somnambulist (Liam's Map). With that rival...

4th-KEE, $110K, Msw, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 2:36 p.m. ET. PHANTOM BLUE (Ghostzapper), a Resolute Racing purchase for $1.2-million during the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, was sent to trainer Brendan Walsh. Out of the winning Seeking the Blue (Arch), the filly is a half-sister to MGSP Janis Joplin (California Chrome), MSP Vino Rouge (Vino Rosso) and as of Mar. 27 she has a new half-brother by Not This Time. Phantom Blue's third dam is MGSW Atlantic Ocean (Stormy Atlantic). On the same Speightstown-Medaglia d'Oro cross that yielded current sires...

Less than 48 hours after Colonial Downs was coated in three inches of fresh snow, Saturday's Virginia Derby, the last 50-point prep race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, will have competitors and visitors alike dreaming of warmer things to come on the first Saturday in May. Now in its second year, the newly-repositioned Virginia Derby (moved up from the track's traditional summer meet) drew a field of 10 after running with just seven entries in its inaugural edition won by the late D. Wayne Lukas's American Promise (Justify)....

HALLANDALE, FL--Kicking off the graded stakes action on Pegasus Day, Gary Barber, Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Speed Shopper (Quality Road) closed stoutly from off the pace to earn her first graded stakes win in the inaugural running of the GIII Christophe Clement Stakes at Gulfstream. Arya Stark (Arg) (CosmicTiger {Arg}) popped out to the front straight out of the gate as Speed Shopper settled right behind Weighted Average (English Channel) through an opening quarter mile in :24.76. Remaining largely unchanged up front following a :50.20 half and three...

On the surface, hiring people who have battled substance abuse issues, some of whom have criminal records, might not seem like a good idea. But Elliott Walden, the president and CEO of racing operations for WinStar Farm, felt otherwise. His family had dealt with these issues for years. His son, Will, now a successful trainer who is sober, had dealt with addiction for years before turning his life around thanks to the Stable Recovery program, which was co-founded by Taylor Made's Frank Taylor and Christian Countzler. Stable Recovery helps addicts...

The sixth race Wednesday at Churchill Downs was, on the surface, rather unremarkable. It was just a $30,000 maiden claimer for 2-year-olds, normally the type of race where even the winner usually doesn't amount to much. But the race, won by a horse named Awesome Hawaiian (Awesome Bet), turned out to be one of the most remarkable and heartwarming stories of the year. You probably know prominent owner John Stewart and his family and their work to save horses from slaughter. But 99 times out of 100 those horses never...

4th-Keeneland, $100,719, Msw, 10-17, 2yo, f, 5 1/2fT, 1:02.83, fm, 2 3/4 lengths. BEACH HEIST (f, 2, Omaha Beach--Pearl Heist, by Graydar) ran this group of maiden fillies off their feet in her debut race Friday for Will Walden. The 6-1 shot, drawn wide in this 10-horse field, was pushed from the gate for speed and was able to forge an advantage heading into the far turn. Opening up a sizeable gap back to Cardiff Reef (Omaha Beach) at the quarter pole, Beach Heist looked to put this race away...

Trainer Will Walden has come a long way in a short period of time. Training only since 2022, through Tuesday, he had 35 wins on the year from 141 starters for a win rate of 25%. His stable's earnings stood at $3.384 million. It's been a good year, in part because of a very good day. Walden won his first Grade I race last Saturday at Keeneland when the New York-bred Rhetorical (Not This Time) won the GI Coolmore Turf Mile. It was an important step for a trainer who...

Trainer Will Walden joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss his first career Grade I win with Rhetorical in the Coolmore Turf Mile.

Trainers Will Walden and Robbie Medina likely booked their first Breeders' Cup starters with stakes winners at Keeneland over the weekend. Walden earned his first Grade I win when Rhetorical (Not This Time) came home first in the GI Coolmore Turf Mile Saturday. "He ran big and we are so proud of him," Walden said of Rhetorical, who returned to Churchill Downs Saturday night. "He was doing so good and training better than he ever has. We use a lot of metrics with our horses and he was just off...

The final round of preps for the Breeders' Cup took place this weekend and there was no shortage of stories or races. There were 26 graded stakes run from Friday through Sunday and nine of them were Grade I's. As always, this weekend helped to clear up the Breeders' Cup picture. Here's a look at what happened: GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile: You had three races, the GI Champagne, the GI Breeders' Futurity and the GI American Pharoah and each race featured a potential superstar in Ted Noffey (Into Mischief), Desert...

Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable's Rhetorical (Not This Time) provided his all-conquering sire with his second winner of Keeneland's GI Coolmore Turf Mile in the space of three years, striking from close range to earn an all-expenses-paid trip to Del Mar for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile exactly four weeks down the road. Not This Time's Eclipse Award-winning son Up to the Mark won this event in 2023 ahead of a very good runner-up effort in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Only once-beaten in five career starts coming...