Brendan Walsh downsized his Saratoga string a bit this year, from 20 to a dozen bedded down in Jimmy Jerkens’ old spot on the Oklahoma Training Track, with a goal in mind.

“I just wanted to bring the horses that’ll be competitive up here this year,” Walsh said. “They’ve all
run well, what we’ve run so far.”

The majority of Walsh’s stable is back in Kentucky, at Churchill Downs and Turfway Park, running primarily at Ellis Park with others to ship to various spots in the Midwest and even to Southern California. The Kentucky Downs meet is also a major target, but that comes in late August and early
September.

Already in the win column thanks to Proctor Street scoring on the turf July 18, Walsh hopes for
more success at a place he’s fared well over the years. He won the 2017 Lake George and Lake Placid with Proctor’s Ledge – the dam of Proctor Street – and sent Extravagant Kid out to victory in the 2018 Lucky Coin well before the gelding powered home in the Grade 1, $1 million Al Quoz Sprint in 2021 at Meydan racecourse in Dubai. He won five races at last year’s meet, and of course remains widely praised for his compassionate handling of Pretty Mischievous’ win following the tragic breakdown of Maple Leaf Mel in the Grade 1 Test.

Pretty Mischievous, who went on to win Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly, won’t make the meet with a trip out west planned but several other members of Walsh’s well-stocked stable could make stakes appearances before Labor Day.

“It’s still Saratoga,” Walsh said. “I used to come up here and try and win a few races. Now there’s some expectancy to win races.”
“The horses do so well up here. When I walked around this morning, I hadn’t been here in a few weeks and walking down the shedrow and seeing the horses I must say, everybody looks great,” Walsh said. “The horses do so well. We had a horse here a few years ago named Honorable Duty. He was a good horse. He ran second in the Stephen Foster twice, won all the older horse stakes at Fair Grounds one winter. He was a proper horse. He came up here one summer, and he ate. I think he set a world record for eating in a season. He would eat what you would put in front of him. I don’t know what it is up here, but horses do well. I guess it’s the weather and everything. Some people say it’s the water here. And I have to say, the Oklahoma track is so good, too.”

Walsh took time before turf works Friday to discuss the Saratoga group and others back home in
Kentucky with The Special’s Tom Law.

Saratoga string

Irish Aces

Pocket Aces Racing’s 4-year-old Mshawish gelding is 2-2-2 in nine starts with $162,447. Third in the Grade 3 Arlington Stakes June 1 at Churchill Downs, he finished third in July 13 allowance-optional here. “He ran really well here a few weeks ago in a two-other-than, probably should have won. He had a bad trip, but hopefully we will rectify that before the meet ends. He should be
tough the next time.”

West Beach

Qatar Racing’s 2-year-old Omaha Beach colt makes second start in today’s opener, a 1 1/16-mile maiden on the turf. “He ran very well first time out at Aqueduct, finishing second going three quarters. He’s got to stretch out (today), which I think he won’t mind at all. He’ll like that. But he looks like a nice horse. We liked him initially at home, and we had a plan to bring him up here. So
hopefully, he should have a very good chance.”

Tifareeh

Shadwell Stable’s homebred 3-year-old Speightstown colt finished fifth, beaten 6 ¼ lengths, in a 1-mile allowance-optional here June 7. He’s 1-for7 and is entered in today’s ninth, a 1 1/16-mile allowance-optional on the grass.
“We ran him up here on Belmont Weekend and he ran a sneaky-good race. He’s
been doing well since. He’d have a shot as well. Same kind of race, a 1X. He’s a
nice horse.”

Proctor Street

Patricia Moseley’s homebred 3-year-old filly by Street Sense out of multiple graded stakes winner Proctor’s Ledge improved to 2-for-2 with a 17-1 win July 18 on the turf. “Our winner for Mrs. Moseley. I had my first ever winner for her, a horse named Sandcastle. She’s been just unbelievable and she’s had horses with me ever since. As for Proctor Street, it’s really nice to have her. It’s amazing how much like her mom she is. Initially, we didn’t think that much of her. I ran her first time in Indiana, and she won. She started to work well coming up to her maiden in Indiana. She ran really, really well that day. She was drawn low and it was a big field, and she overcame a lot to win. Then we brought her back and she started working good. Trish and I were talking and she said, ‘maybe at the start of the meet here, would that filly work up here?’ After the race the other day, after she won, she said, ‘I was wondering if you were doing it just to appease me?’ I told her of course I wasn’t, that she actually was working really good. But did I think she’d win? Probably not. But her mom was like that. We didn’t think much of her mom, initially. I remember the first day we ever ran her, Miguel Mena rode her and he came back after the race and he said she was nice. … I ran her back on the very first Pegasus Day in a maiden. I was flying back to Ireland that day, something was going on back home. I landed in New York, getting a connection and when I turned on my phone, my phone blew up with texts because she had won. She won at like 50-1. Then she galloped in an allowance
race at Gulfstream as well. After that, the rest is history.”
Proctor’s Ledge gave you some great moments up here, too.
“That’s right. The two lakes. The Lake George and Lake Placid. And she won the (Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile) on Derby Day. She was a great mare. Just got beaten in the Just A Game, beaten by filly of Chad’s (A Raving Beauty). Proctor Street is starting to look like her mother, too, Tom. Hopefully, she can keep going. We’re going to look at the next race, the Lake Placid. We have to have a look at that. Maybe Kentucky Downs as well.”

Cloudwalker

Boardshorts’ two-time winning 3-year-old daughter of More Than Ready finished third in July 12 Coronation Cup Stakes. “She ran really well in the first sprint here and now there’s the Galway. That’s later in the meet, but I’m not sure if I’m going to go there or go to Kentucky. She’s very similar to Secret Money that we had last year. Secret Money won the Music City at Kentucky Downs. Last year I ran Secret Money in the Lake George, just wanted to see if she’d get a mile, and she didn’t. And then I kept her sprinting. I freshened her up and shortened her up. That’s the problem now, if you can call it a problem, in August you have (Kentucky Downs) hanging over you a little bit. It’s hard to resist those purses, especially for a Kentucky person.”

Intricate

Winner of last year’s Grade 2 Golden Rod, she finished third behind Thorpedo Anna and Candied in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks for Bradley Thoroughbreds, Laura Leigh Stable, Scott Estes and Cambron Equine. Daughter of Gun Runner is 2-2-1 in seven starts with $465,180 in earnings. “She ran well last week. Obviously to get a Grade 1-placing (behind two Grade 1 winners) is great. So, it wasn’t a bad race. She’s been running good. She got caught out early in the race last week. I don’t know if she didn’t really like the track or found it a little different or what. She was doing so good in Churchill. I kept her there and I brought her up here just the week before. What we’ll do now is work her a few times up here. If she works good, then we might have a look at the Alabama.”
And with Thorpedo Anna likely heading to the Travers, that changes things.
“That might open things up even more. … Kenny has to go to the Travers. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t. She’s probably legit to have a go against those colts.”

Quiet Confidence

Owned by Emcee Stable, Fortune Farm and Robert Hahn, the daughter of Nyquist breezed a half mile here July 21. “She was fourth in a maiden at Ellis last time. That was just her first start and I’m going to run her back in a maiden next week going 6 ½.”

Jujubee

Owned by Bloom Racing Stable, Paul Lissy Family Trust and True North Stable, 2-year-old Liam’s Map colt finished second in Ellis maiden July 5. “He ran a good second. There’s a seven-eighths maiden, the week after next. That should be good for him.”

Glittering Lights

Hunter Valley Farm’s English-bred 4-year-old by Kingman sports a 3-3-4 record in 16 starts and $86,769 in earnings. She’s raced four times in the U.S., including a fourth in the Big Dreyfus Stakes July 21 at Laurel Park.
“She’s actually eligible for a 1X here, so we’ll point her at that.

Love Tempo

Owned by Magic Cap Stable, Lucan Racing and Daniel Hayden, 2-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Churchill finished third in July 6 maiden race at Ellis. “I’m going to run her in a two-turn maiden on the grass. She’s by Churchill out of a Deep Impact mare, really well-bred.”

Reckoning Force

Owned by Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and Fergus Galvin, the son of Air Force Blue owns two wins from 13 starts. “He just got up. He’s going to run in a two-other-than next week. Really solid horse.”

Secret Money

A $40,000 purchase by Legion Bloodstock at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic May sale, 4-year-old daughter of Good Samaritan has won three of 13 and earned $855,220. She won last year’s Grade 3 Big Ass Fans Music City Stakes at Kentucky Downs and finished fourth with Tyler Gaffalione in Thursday’s Grade 3 Caress. “She ran great. That was a loaded race. She’s just a great filly. She ran really well. I’m probably going to go to Kentucky Downs. There’s not much for her here anyway. The race should set her up good. She wasn’t beaten more than a half-length and she had one horse behind her turning for home. To get through, like Tyler said after, if he could have stayed in an all-out drive, he thinks he would have gone by them all. But he said he had to do a bunch of steering as
well. I thought there was no way she was going to get anywhere near through. She nearly did. She’s cool.”

Dan Cutter

The barn pony, Walsh’s frequent morning mount while training sets on the Oklahoma. “How’s he? He’s great. He’s part of the furniture now.”

As for the Kentucky string…

Pretty Mischievous

The champ. Godolphin’s homebred 4-year-old daughter of Into Mischief owns seven wins in 12 starts, including last year’s Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks, Acorn and Test, and earnings of $2,104,560. She finished third in both her 2024 starts – the Grade 1 Fasig-Tipton La Troienne at Churchill Downs and Grade 1 Ogden Phipps at Saratoga. “I’m going to run her in the Clement Hirsch (Aug. 3). She’s going to go out west, heading to Del Mar. She’s been doing great. You go out there and (Bob) Baffert’s filly is going to be there, Adare Manor, we understand that. We’ve been battling this year against a lack of pace. The race here on Belmont weekend, when you compare the pace figures to what she’d been running with last year, there was no pace. Obviously, these older mare fields now, they’re five-, six-runner fields. If something like that comes up, you’re dead in the water. The thinking is to go out there, yes Baffert’s filly will be there but there’s going to be pace. There’s a couple of other fillies that look like they’re going, too. Plus, it’s nice to go out there and give her a run on that track with a view to maybe go back there in November for the Breeders’ Cup. She’s doing great. She’s working great. I expect a huge run from her. We had a great year with her
last year, too. It’d be nice if we could get another Grade 1 with her.”

Implicated

Four-year-old daughter of Connect won the Grade 2 Nassau June 29 at Woodbine for her fifth win in nine starts. She also won last year’s Grade 3 Pebbles at Aqueduct for Bradley Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, Cambron Equine and Laura Leigh Stable. “She’s nice. She ran great in the Nassau last time. She’s done well. We haven’t really decided what we’re going to do with
her yet. We give her a bit of space between races, but she’s back working. She’s working good. She worked good there yesterday before I left. That was a great race. I’m going to have a look at the race here maybe with her. It’s a possibility. The Ballston Spa or maybe the Canadian at Woodbine or maybe the Beverly D. That one might be a little far though.”

First World War

Qatar Racing’s and Hunter Valley Farm’s 3-year-old War Front colt won the Grade 3 Penn Mile two starts back and finished second in the American Derby June 29 at Churchill. “We’re thinking either the Hall of Fame (August 2 at Saratoga) or the Secretariat (August 10 at Colonial Downs). But Sheikh Fahad has a nice colt with Brad (Cox) as well that might be going to the Hall of Fame. I think they’re probably leaning toward running him here so that would have us going to the Secretariat. That’s OK. He’s had a great year. Two nice races. And he’s doing well.”

Prevalence

Godolphin’s Grade 3-winning 6-year-old Medaglia d’Oro gelding sports a 5-for-18 record with $436,935 in earnings. He won at Keeneland in April and finished second in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint at Pimlico before a fifth in the Grade 2 John A. Nerud July 6 at Aqueduct. “He’s still going. He ran great in Keeneland in the spring. Ran well at Pimlico. There’s a mile race at Ellis on August 11, a little listed stakes (R.A. “Cowboy” Jones Memorial). We might give him a go on that. He’s been helping Pretty Mischievous out in her preps for California. It’s amazing. She’s a two-turn filly and he struggles to stay with her in the morning. And he’s got a Grade 3 win sprinting. It’s funny, but he’s a cool horse. We’ll keep him going for as long as he wants to go. It seems like he enjoys it. He was a little disappointing the other day at Aqueduct. They just went too quick up front. If you get the right spot for him, he’ll still be dangerous.”

Loved

Godolphin’s homebred 5-year-old mare by Medaglia d’Oro out of the winning Bernardini mare Velvety (who is out of Caress), finished fourth in backto-back Grade 3s before winning the Mari Hulman George Memorial Handicap July 6 at Horseshoe Indianapolis. “Ran really well last time at Indiana. It’s great to get a stakes win with her. That pedigree. She’s fantastic. She’s just come back to go back to work. We just backed off with her briefly. We’re probably going to the race in Churchill in September, the Locust Grove. That’s probably a strong possibility. She likes Churchill. She won there last year. We’ve been very in and out with trying to keep her going, but if she’s right, she’s very good.”

Maxwell

A half-brother to Loved for the same connections, 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo broke his maiden last time out July 14 at Ellis. “That was the same day as the European final in soccer. He didn’t do anything as a 2-year-old. He ran once in Churchill this spring and then won a month later. There’s another allowance race for him in two weeks, so I’ll probably go there and then we’ll see after that.
He’s nice. That whole family, they’re all runners.”

Forever After All

Dixiana Farm’s homebred 5-year-old mare by Connect is 2-7-2 in 16 starts. Third in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes two starts back at Santa Anita Park, she finished second in the Anchorage Overnight Stakes June 30 at Churchill. “She’s nice, too. She’s done great this year. She’s got a serious pedigree. She’s a half to Tom’s d’Etat. She’s stakes-placed and was third in the Grade 1 in California. I’m probably going to look at the Canadian with her, too, and the Beverly D. as well. Probably point her at Kentucky Downs eventually. She’s doing good. She’s working very good. But she’s done really well this year. Good mare that I’m hoping they keep in training again next year. She could be serious for next year.”

Pondering

Godolphin’s 2-year-old Hard Spun filly won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden at Ellis Park July 22 in her debut. She’s out of the stakes-winning Street Sense mare Always Thinking. “She galloped in her win. She’s pretty nice, fast. We might look at the Spinaway, maybe. She’ll train down in Kentucky and then come up if she runs.”

American Women

Owned by X-Men Racing, Madaket Stable and SF Racing, 2-year-old Constitution filly won her second start July 15 at Ellis. “She’s a nice filly who also won at Ellis. We’re just getting going with her.”

R Calli Kim

The stable’s third graded stakes winner of 2024 – along with Implicated and First World War – 7-year-old daughter of Revolutionary won the Grade 3 The Very One in early March at Gulfstream Park for owners Averill Racing and Two Eight Racing. John Stewart’s Resolute Racing bought her for $220,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Digital April sale. “She’s been retired. She bowed a tendon after
she won the race at Gulfstream. Very unfortunate, she had really, really turned
into a serious girl.”

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