The young trainer Will Walden hopes the second March renewal of the Virgina Derby will provide him with his first Kentucky Derby runner in May. High Camp, despite sporting only a maiden win from two starts, is the 9-2 third choice on the morning line for Saturday’s $500,000 Virginia Derby, which used to be a late-summer turf contest before Churchill Downs Inc., the owner of Colonial Downs, created a March mini-meet while moving the race to dirt and grafting it onto the Road to the Kentucky Derby. This weekend’s lone Derby prep, the one-turn, 1 1/8-mile Virginia Derby confers 50 qualifying points to the winner, enough to get that horse into the 20-runner Derby field. The first two home in last year’s Virginia Derby, American Promise and Render Judgment, finished 16th and 17th in the Kentucky Derby. The day before, Walden had saddled his first Kentucky Oaks runner, Bless the Broken, who finished second and last fall sold at auction for $950,000. That’s the kind of season Walden had during his fourth full year training; press the right buttons, get the right results. Walden, 35, started with a 10-horse string in 2022, his staff small enough that much of the stable work fell to the head trainer. “I was a part-time hot walker, full-time assistant, groomed, rode,” Walden said. :: DRF's Derby Watch Top 20 | Who's hot, who's not | Pedigree profile: Buetane Correct: Walden, who stands about six-and-a-half-feet tall, has plenty of exercise-riding experience. On his path toward becoming a trainer, he galloped for big-name outfits like Bill Mott’s. “I galloped for a long time,” Walden said. “I was called the extra-sized rider. I never wanted to have anyone I employed doing a job that I hadn’t done before.” Yes, Walden long harbored dreams of becoming a trainer. And no wonder. He grew up at the track and at the races, the son of Elliott Walden, who had a 20-year training career and is the longtime president and CEO of mighty WinStar Farm. Will Walden’s mother, Rebecca, was a rider and an assistant in Elliott Walden’s stable. No doubt, the last name and a lifetime making connections have helped propel Walden’s steady progress, from 18 winners in 2023 to 43 last year. Walden now trains 60 head and through March 11 had sent out 14 winners during 2026, on pace to nearly double his 2025 total. He has won filly-and-mare turf stakes this winter with Aussie Girl at Tampa Bay Downs and with Speed Shopper at Gulfstream Park, the latter a true project horse who has blossomed under Walden’s care and management. Walden trains Rhetorical, who won the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile in October at Keeneland, finished a creditable fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, and is training toward his 5-year-old bow in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland. “The added pressure of carrying my father’s name, who has had such an impact on this industry, it never lets me get complacent,” Walden said. “I want to make the last name mean something more. Has it made some situations hard, some conversations difficult? I don’t worry about what other people think.” For all the stable expansion, Walden still trains few Classic prospects. His top 2-year-old, the Into Mischief colt Envision, scored a sharp debut win Dec. 26 at Turfway Park but suffered a tibial stress fracture that took him out of action. “That hurt. It was a long week,” Walden said. Because, of course, Walden surely would like nothing more than to make the Derby, which his father nearly won with Victory Gallop in 1998 and Menifee the following year. Until High Camp debuted Dec. 28 at Gulfstream, no one realistically would have pictured him as a Derby horse. “He never outworked anybody, but he never got outworked,” Walden said. “Those kind of horses, sometimes they surprise you in the afternoon. You just don’t know what you got.” :: DRF Road to the Derby Package Available Now! Save 37% on key handicapping essentials through Kentucky Derby day. High Camp ran into a well-meant Brad Cox-trained firster named Waymark in his debut, finishing second but getting to the winner going six furlongs. In his second start, a seven-furlong maiden Feb. 7 at Gulfstream, High Camp stalked the pace and appeared to be sucking out of contention at the three-furlong marker. Jockey John Velazquez, who rides Saturday, kept busy on his mount, and suddenly, before the furlong grounds, High Camp found stride and barreled to a one-length score, earning this stakes look. High Camp breezed way back in May at Keeneland for trainer Paolo Lobo before Larry Best, who races as OXO Equine, moved the colt to Walden. “He wasn’t ready to go on, so we kicked him out and brought him back in late summer,” Walden said. High Camp is inexperienced, still green, still learning. The hope is to see more of that promise revealed Saturday, an improving colt for a rising stable. “I’ve got the greatest job in the world, and hopefully there’s a still a lot left in front of us,” Walden said. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2026: Top contenders, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more