Fort Larned's sister wins maiden

Three years after Fort Larned won the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, his younger half-sister Walkabout won her maiden in her fourth start, taking a maiden special weight by 4 1/2 lengths on last Saturday’s Foster card.

Walkabout, by Stroll, runs for owner-breeder Janis Whitham and is trained by Ian Wilkes, just as Fort Larned was.

“It’s been slow, but she’s coming into her own,” Wilkes said of the 3-year-old filly’s development. “She takes a lot more training than her brother, but she’s turning into a nice filly.”

Walkabout is out of the Broad Brush mare Arlucea, who is out of the Whitham champion Bayakoa. Arlucea is the dam of six winners from seven starters, led by Fort Larned, who won the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic and scored his additional Grade 1 victories in the 2012 Whitney Handicap and 2013 Foster. Arlucea also produced Grade 1-placed Izarra and stakes-placed Moonport.

Wilkes said there are not many similarities between Walkabout and her family line.

“She’s different than most of them, very different,” he said. “She can be a little sassy. She’s got her own agenda.”

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