Elliott Walden On Breeding Triple Crown Winners And Taking Home The Second Dubai World Cup

Early Early Years

Walden worked as an assistant for trainers of the calibre of LeRoy Jolley and John Gosden before taking out his own trainers' license in 1985 where he trained four horses for his father.

“I knew when I was 14 that this is what I wanted to do and every day my goal was to try to learn something new.

 “Even if it was one thing and just try to learn that one thing that would help me towards that goal.

“It was fascinating working with those two.

“I worked for LeRoy Jolly in the late seventies, and he had Genuine Risk win the Kentucky Derby as a filly in 1981.

“He also had General Assembly, Honest Pleasure, Foolish Pleasure. It was amazing to be around those good horses.

“With John Gosden it was the same thing. I walked into his barn in 1984 and he had just won the Breeders Cup with Royal Heroin, had a horse named The Nobel Player and he had so many great horses. He was really rolling in California at the time.”

In 1998 Walden prepared Victory Gallop to a win in the Belmont Stakes, a prestigious race as part of the Triple Crown. The following year he was voted the 1999 American Champion Older Male Horse. Walden reflected on the horse as well as what the son of Cryptoclearance meant to him.

“He was amazing. He was probably not thought of well at sales and he was a $25,000 yearling.

“He was not very big, and he had a little bit of a short, thick neck on him. You wouldn't be impressed by him until he stepped on the racetrack.

“When he stepped on the racetrack he looked like he grew a hand and his stride was immense. That's what made him a great horse, that and his demeanor.

“Very rarely would I see a horse as consistent as he was. He was just extremely smart, incredible to be around along with Distorted Humor and Menifee.

“Trainers are only as good as their horses and I was fortunate enough to have some great ones.”

Walden agrees that a horse is not always what they seem in the sales parade ring and in a lot of cases the unimpressive ones break out becoming greats of the track.

“I think most of the time the market gets it wrong.

“There's something about a horse’s innate ability that you can't put your finger on that even the best of judges can't see sometimes.

“That's what makes our game so fascinating and makes it so challenging.

“That's what makes us get up in the morning to try to keep pursuing to let those horses speak to us in a way that says I'm the next Winx, I'm the next Victory Gallop, I'm the next champion.”

Throughout his career in training, Walden had the opportunity to train some great horses and take wins internationally.

“On the training side of things, I mentioned Menifee, who ran second in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and the following year he won the Bluegrass Stakes.

“I also trained a filly named Ipi Tombe, which I had for a very short time, but she was from South Africa. She won the Golden Shaheen and she won the US$5 million turf race. She was a phenomenal horse. She ran one time for us and got hurt.

“I have been blessed and was able to be around Wayne Lucas in his heyday and see him and see the great horses he had. I also was able to see Bob Baffert on his way up.

“Bob had Real Quiet that ran against Victory Gallop and a lot of people say that I cost him a Triple Crown when we won the Belmont, but he cost me a Triple Crown because if he wasn't there we would have won the Derby and the Preakness as well.

“We were second in both. So we had some great times and was able to see a lot of great horses.”

Walden takes great pride in having seen great success at home in the place he was born and raised, Kentucky.

“It means a lot,” he said.

“There's nothing like the Kentucky Derby and finishing second in that twice as a trainer was tough, especially to get beat by the neck both times.

“But I left it to God and realized that that's the way it was supposed to happen.”

He took over training at WinStar Farm in 2002 which was the beginning of a role and operation that Walden reflects on with great passion.

Winstar’s Fearless Leader

“I was blessed in my career with Winstar to have Super Saver win the Kentucky Derby in 2010 and do that for the Troutt and the Casner families and then Justify comes along in 2018 and it's just been an incredible ride.”

Justify became the thirteenth winner of the American Triple Crown and after being unbeaten (6:6-0-0) has gone on to have a career at stud.

“I first got involved in 1999 when Victory Gallop was an older champion and I met Kenny Troutt and Bill Casner, at the time they were friends of the Preston brothers who owned Victory Gallop.

“They were all from Texas and had a relationship. I met Kenny when Kenny came to Saratoga and Victory Gallop won the Whitney by a nostril in his last start actually.

“Kenny had been in racing with Bill Casner in the seventies but he had gotten out of it. Kenny started a company called Excel Communications and thought about buying an NBA basketball team.

“It was for our good fortune that he decided not to and decided to buy a horse farm and get into racing and breeding operation.

“And that's the history of WinStar farm. And here we are 23 years later. We have experienced incredible success along the way. 

“With his vision (Troutt), he is just unbelievable in the way that he sees things, he lets you do your job and he trusts you completely. But he also is very involved in the fact that he wants to know what's going on.

“He's very passionate about it and he wants to succeed. He helped drive us to the success we've had today.”

Kenny Troutt, as the owner of WinStar Farm, is not just a successful businessman but a supreme supporter of horses and racing.

“Not only that but I would add in there he is all about the 180 team members we have here.

“He's very involved with the families at WinStar and he has an incredible amount of humility for a billionaire.

“He and his wife Lisa, and their children Preston, Grant, and Savannah, visit multiple times a year. At times we will have an event at the farm where they're just mingling with the team. I feel that is really important.

“For the ultimate vision of trying to do things in a way that brings glory to God, that's in our vision and it's also to race the best horses we possibly can and be the best farm in the world.

“For those guys that muck those stalls every day when they see Kenny around they know that what they're doing is important because the guy at the top is there.

“He could be a multitude of places. He could be on a beach somewhere but then he's driving that black Suburban around the farm once a week and they know that what they're doing is important.

“We all do.  We want to do it to the best of our ability and a lot of that is because we have such a great team at WinStar.”

Bold Decisions And Big Rewards

Walden took over as CEO of WinStar Farm in 2010, a role that came after eight years of partnership with the farm as he said didn’t come easily.

“Well it started in 2002 and Kenny was wanting to change directions in 2005. It came to a point when I decided to go back to the farm and help at the farm and give up my training career.

“That's how important it was to me to stay connected to WinStar Farm because Kenny had decided that we would possibly move the horses to other trainers. I wanted to have the ability to come back to the farm and help run it at that time.

“It was so important for me to make that choice to come to the farm because I was so committed to the vision that Kenny had placed before us. The first five years were a bit of a struggle and then Distorted Humor came along and then Speightstown came along, and Bluegrass Cat ran second in the Kentucky Derby in 2006.

“Then it started to click and I think we've had 18 horses in the Kentucky Derby since 2006 and won it twice.

“At that point, I could just see it in front of us and it was so important to stay focused on the vision to see it through and it's just a privilege and an honour to be working with the WinStar family.

“A lot of us had been there a long time and to see the success we've had has been a real blessing.

“We're not done yet.”

Family Ties

When Walden speaks of WinStar and the industry you can see how important family is to the Kentucky native. He has four children with one of them (Will) beginning to show his potential as having a strong future in training ahead of him. He trained his first winner last year in Dazzlingdominika, so the question had to be asked on the importance to Walden that the next generation carries on the legacy of the family business of horses.

“We got them to kind of decide their own way in that. Will is the only one that's directly connected and he is starting out on a phenomenal training career. His story has been well documented having come a long way and he is a tremendous horseman.

“I have tremendous respect for his horsemanship, and we talk horses all the time.

“That's a great connection and that's something that we share together.

“Emily loves horses. Her job is something else, but her passion and her heart is in the horse business. I wouldn't be surprised if she winds up in ownership or in some other form within the business.

“Mack has worked in the equine insurance business before, and so you know we're all in and around it.

“It is definitely a lifestyle. They grew up going to the races and grew up travelling around the United States having two schools to go to one in Kentucky and one in Florida in the wintertime.

“They really have an appreciation for the lifestyle of being a horseman and they don't look at that as a hindrance. There's obviously a lot of time committed to it. It's seven days a week. At times, I miss some things and I have missed some opportunities, but they don't ever see it that way.

“I know whatever position they find in life, whether it's in the horse business or not, as long as they're happy then I'm good.”

The Zedan Connection

No conversation with Walden can be had without mention of Country Grammer, who is owned by WinStar Farm in partnership with Zedan Racing Stables and Commonwealth Thoroughbreds.

The son of Tonalist won the Gr.3 Peter Pan Stakes in 2020 after breaking his maiden eight months prior. He would go on to win the Gr.1 Hollywood Gold Cup in 2021, and the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes last year. He has placed second in the past two runnings of the world’s richest race, The Saudi Cup, and took the title in the Gr.1 Dubai World Cup last year.

“Country Grammer is a horse that you truly appreciate. How many horses do you know have been first and second in 10 starts in the last three years? Since 2020 he has been first or second in every start, it's incredible.

“He has taken us to the highest places and taken us to the great races. 

“The World Cup last year was phenomenal. His courage and his will to win is evident every time he steps foot on the racetrack.

“Even the other day in Saudi, he's around the turn and it looks like he's not really going anywhere. I think he was five wide and he was trying to keep pace around the turn so he didn't lose any ground.

“But he wasn’t really gaining any ground. And then suddenly, when he comes into the stretch, he just kicks it into another gear. He tries his tail off to get to the wire first. You just have to appreciate a horse like that.

“We first became involved with him when we bought him at the January sale in 2021. Mr. Pompa (Paul Pompa Jr., Country Grammer’s previous owner) who was a great friend and a great client of the farm had passed after having a sudden heart attack.

“It was just a devastating loss to the industry as he was a tremendous man. He owned a piece of Big Brown back in the days as well.

“They had the horse in our training centre. They were selling all of Mr. Pompa’s bloodstock as his family was not in the business. We bought him out of the dispersal and the first move we made was to send him to Bob Baffert.

“He has done an incredible job with him, and he won the first Grade One in the Hollywood Gold Cup.

“After that, we started pointing him towards the races in the desert. We felt like the demanding tracks over there would suit the stamina gene that he has, and it's just been a phenomenal ride.

“Once he had success last year, we started figuring out a way to point him for it this year again. We actually bypassed the Breeders’ Cup. We felt like why go there? Instead let's give him a break and let's point him at the two races in the Middle East.”

He is known for an aggressive turn of foot and the ability to devour ground in a finish that is hard to come by and if he was to win the Dubai World Cup for a second year, Walden said it would elevate him to another level beyond where he already sits.

“It would be phenomenal, and it would put him in the history books.

“Right now, I think he is the fourth or fifth leading earner in US history. Another win in the Dubai World Cup this year would put him at the top. He would be number one and would surpass Arrogate.

“I think he would even possibly surpass Winx in Australian dollars conversion. I mean, it's incredible to even think about how consistent he's been and how he has run in high-quality races for three years now.

“Chad Brown, who trained him before, had loved him. He called me the next day after I bought him actually but I had already spoken to Bob (Baffert). He (Brown) told me all about him and told me what a cool horse he was.

“He is historic,” he said.

Once The Curtain Falls At Meydan

After the run in the Dubai World Cup at the end of March, the rest of his program is beginning to fall into place, as Walden said.

“He will go for the Breeders Cup. I think the Pacific Classic would probably be on his dance card at a mile and a quarter out in Del Mar also.

“He ran well there last year finishing second although he didn't touch Flightline, he beat the rest of them.

“He’s done well at Santa Anita so the Gr.1 Breeders Cup in the fall is on the docket, and we're excited about that.

“We will look into stud plans after that.”

The Golden Era

With some great horses coming through its gates over time WinStar Farm works towards the next chapter as Walden said.

“We've gone through a bit of a transition because we had such great horses in the 2010s.

“Horses like Speightstown and Tiznow have always been a fan favourite. They continue to get candy and flowers,” Walden laughs.

“He won the Breeders’ Cup Classic back-to-back in 2000 and 2001. He's retired and having a big time in the stud barn. He is looking over at Constitution and Life is Good, the younger guys and having a great time.

“Then we had Distorted Humor who is also retired. He's 30 and just an amazing horse, he really got the farm started.

“You know without him I don't know if WinStar Farm would be here today. He had yearlings when Kenny and Bill bought the farm and in his first crop, he had Funny Cide win the Kentucky Derby and then his stallion career just took off. 

“I actually had the honour of training him.

“Now we're onto Life is Good and excited about his stallion career. Constitution is a proven stallion and its getting ready to hopefully take it to the next level but he has had a great start in his stallion career.

“We’ve just been really blessed with some great horses. Drosselmeyer won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2011 and Creator won the 2016 Belmont Stakes.

“We are just super excited about the opportunities that we have as a team and think about all the great horses that we've been around. It's really been pretty incredible.”

Having taken races across the globe Walden said that there was one or two still on his list to be won for the first time or again.

“It’s a great question,” he responds thinking back at what he has had the privilege to achieve with WinStar and with plenty left to still achieve.

“You know we've won four Belmonts, won two Kentucky Derbies, we did win the Preakness with Justify to catapult us to the Triple Crown.

“But I'd love to win another Preakness. It's a tough race to win, because it's two weeks after the Derby and the fact that we have only had one, that would be a race I would love for us to win again.

“It's hard to say because we've been blessed to win so many and I don't really have one that stands out that we haven't won, other than the Saudi Cup.

“We've tried hard there in the last two years, and we've won three Dubai World Cups too.

“So you know I just think that winning a race like the Preakness or the Derby again, that never gets old.”

With the mention of the Group One Dubai World Cup itself, and with Country Grammer preparing for his title defence was it possible that we could see him try for a third time to capture the Saudi Cup.

“I think we will wait until the end of the year and at age seven, we need to really think about it. We have so much respect for the horse that you don't want to overdo it.

“But I would never say never. I think we let him tell us and then go from there.”

To Boldly Go Where No One Has Gone Before

Walden said the future for WinStar was great with the team still committed as ever to continue to thrive for greatness and get the best out of the great names.

“The future is bright in we're really excited at WinStar about some of the 2YO we have.

“I'm excited about the next generation coming in.  Kenny is in his mid-seventies and his children are getting to a point now where they're very involved in racing. Preston Troutt, his oldest son, has helped start Commonwealth Thoroughbreds which is a micro share company that owns a piece of Country Grammar and they were ecstatic when he won the Dubai World Cup last year.

“So to see the legacy kind of start to turn to the younger generation is exciting. I'm not old but I'm not young and we're building for the future. That means that we're looking to help Preston and the Troutt family engage as well so WinStar farm can continue to be the farm that it's always been.”

And the future for Elliott Walden?

“You know I'm looking forward to finishing my career at WinStar, whenever that is.

“I am excited to see my son's career take off. He's done a phenomenal job winning races at 24%.

“We will have four grandchildren by the end of the year, we have two now and two more on the way. So, it's an exciting time of life with my wife Rebecca, and we're just going to enjoy and work hard and try to make Kenny’s vision possible.

“Kenny has the vision of a second Triple Crown.

“So we're gonna fight for that and try to put us in the history books alongside Calumet.”