Brendan Walsh’s first training job came about 43 years ago. A horse-crazy kid growing up on a farm in Ireland that raised cattle and grew crops, 8-year-old Walsh received as a gift from his father a pony. The creature, unfortunately, as Walsh once described him, was a rogue. A couple years and many challenging lessons later, Walsh had brought the pony to heel. The colt occupying the stall directly across the shed row from Walsh’s barn office at Fair Grounds sits at the center of Walsh’s training job this winter. This is no pony. The horse stands over a vast swath of ground, a white star plunked between intelligent eyes, a dark bay with scope and presence that turns heads, demands attention. When East Avenue runs, he looks even better. At Del Mar the week of the Breeders’ Cup last fall, clockers gawked watching East Avenue train for the first time. He has that aura – a Classic horse. Walsh, 51, feels like a horseman ready to win a Triple Crown race. He already has a Classic victory with Pretty Mischievous in the 2023 Kentucky Oaks. And if East Avenue runs to raw ability, progresses through the last month of winter and into spring, he’ll take Walsh to the Kentucky Derby. That journey, the racing part of it, resumes Saturday at Fair Grounds when East Avenue makes his 3-year-old debut in the Risen Star Stakes, where he’ll be favored over a dozen foes. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2025: Point standings, prep schedule, news, and more There does remain one rather glaring blemish in this picture: East Avenue, after a sizzling sprint debut and domination in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity, capped his 2-year-old season finishing ninth as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Breaking from the rail under Tyler Gaffalione, East Avenue left the starting gate and went straight to his knees, lurching into stride as Gaffalione nearly lost his seat. Skeptics will point out East Avenue still had an entire race to reach contention. Walsh takes a different view. “I pretty much knew we were dead in the water. I think it’s difficult for any horse to overcome something like that, especially an inexperienced 2-year-old. Tyler spent the first half of the race with the hand brake on wondering if he’d grabbed a quarter or something. When he knew he wasn’t going to get anything he folded up on the horse, and that was the right thing to do. We were all just glad he came back in one piece,” Walsh said. East Avenue broke swiftly and smoothly his first two starts, gliding to the lead. “Maybe we put too much emphasis on breaking,” Walsh said. “We taught him to break really fast and I think he just outbroke himself.” Walsh never let East Avenue down after the Breeders’ Cup. East Avenue jogged and galloped slowly before ramping up in December, and when 2025 came, East Avenue was ready to breeze. Walsh envisioned a six-work schedule leading to the Risen Star. East Avenue has logged six works. His Feb. 1 drill began in the starting gate. Walsh gave his rider very specific instructions: Take everything slow and easy. The gate work went as planned. “We’ll see Saturday if it helped,” Walsh said. East Avenue is a Godolphin homebred by Medaglia d’Oro out of Dance Music. Walsh’s Godolphin roots run deep. After working for trainers in England and Ireland he wound up in Dubai, exercise riding at Godolphin’s Al Quoz training center, serving as a barn foreman, and traveling with stakes horses on international excursions. Walsh came to America in 2007, an assistant to trainer Eddie Kenneally. “It was only when I went to work for Eddie that I learned something about training dirt horses. It’s just a lot different. You have to be harder on young horses to prepare them,” Walsh said. Walsh went out on his own in 2012 and, until 2024, increased stable earnings every season, $3.8 million in 2019 soaring to $11.4 million in 2023. Walsh has three starts in Triple Crown races: Plus Que Parfait finished ninth in the 2019 Derby, Multiplier sixth in the 2017 Preakness and 10th in the Belmont. His best young horse, though, was another Godolphin homebred, Maxfield, a romping winner of the 2019 Breeders’ Futurity. Scratched the week of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Maxfield suffered a second injury in late spring of 2020 and missed the COVID-19 Derby that September. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. East Avenue has more speed than Maxfield and ran faster than him as a 2-year-old, and even before he came to Walsh’s barn after training at Bridlewood Farm in Florida, East Avenue had a reputation. Walsh struggled last year finding horses capable of working with this brilliant 2-year-old, a horse who has filled out and strengthened since his Breeders’ Cup debacle. Two preps, then the Derby. That’s the plan. It’s been 3 1/2 months since Walsh watched his young star’s knees buckle leaving the gate. “I don’t know if you’d say I’m very confident. I’m anxious to see what happens,” Walsh said. Maybe it will be something special. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.