Honorable Duty can add to Walsh's strong meet in Stephen Foster Handicap

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – On paper, there’s a ton of speed in the 36th Stephen Foster Handicap, with Gun Runner, Bird Song, and Stanford among the older horses expected Saturday night for the Grade 1, $500,000 race at Churchill Downs.

Brendan Walsh will saddle one of the stalkers in the 1 1/8-mile Foster in Honorable Duty, but he’s not necessarily counting on a meltdown up front.

“Maybe the pace will favor us, but who knows?” said Walsh. “Those are good horses you’re talking about. They still have to come back to you. They don’t stop like some other speed horses sometimes do.”

Honorable Duty, owned by the DARRS Inc. of northern Virginia real-estate agent David Ross, has developed into a force among older horses in the Midwest within the last year. The 5-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding has won six of nine starts since moving from turf to dirt and into the Walsh barn, including a sweep of three stakes over the winter at Fair Grounds, culminating with the Grade 2 New Orleans Handicap.

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In his last start, Honorable Duty finished second behind Bird Song over a sloppy track in the Grade 2 Alysheba on the May 5 Kentucky Oaks card.

“He’s been doing great, working great,” said Walsh. “He’s as good now as we could want. He ran a good race in the Alysheba, although he maybe wasn’t as effective as over a fast track.”

These are heady times for Walsh, the 44-year-old Irishman who made his Triple Crown debut this spring when Multiplier ran sixth in the Preakness and 10th in the Belmont Stakes.

“We’re going to take a step back with Multiplier,” said Walsh. “He hasn’t missed a beat since last fall. We’ll let him come back to us. There’s no plan as of now.”

Walsh, who began training on his own five years ago after lengthy apprenticeships overseas and in America, has enjoyed a sensational Churchill spring meet, with 12 wins and six seconds from his first 31 starters. With more than $1.7 million in stable earnings in 2017, he is on pace for another career-best year.

“Things are going really well for us,” he said.