Walder shows up with talented 2-year-old in Tremont

ELMONT, N.Y. – Talk about making the most of an opportunity.

The trainer Peter Walder over the last five years has sent out exactly one 2-year-old first-time starter. That colt, Zelenskyy Strong, didn’t just win his debut April 22 at Gulfstream, he blasted out of the gate, had a clear lead the whole trip, and drew away to post a 10 3/4-length victory, an especially impressive margin of victory going just 4 1/2 furlongs.

Now Zelenskyy Strong is at Belmont to start today in the $150,000 Tremont Stakes. “He had a good work here the other day,” Walder said this week. “I like the horse. I just don’t know what he beat.”

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What Zelenskyy Strong beat were six rivals. Runner-up Kohaku, the 8-5 favorite to Zelenskyy Strong’s 9-5, returned to finish a modest fourth in a Gulfstream maiden-special Tapeta sprint. Third-place Awesome Flay finished fifth in a Gulfstream maiden-special dirt sprint, while fourth-place Free Soul was fourth in the same race. Fifth-place Preacher Amos hasn’t run back nor has last-place Courageous Copper, but sixth-place Pachanga Loca posted a 2 1/2-length maiden-special win June 2 at Gulfstream, earning just a 41 Beyer Speed Figure.

No speed figure was produced for Zelenskyy Strong’s race, but he clocked a swift 52.27 over a fast track. Debuting in blinkers, the colt was good in the gate and traveled strongly, though nitpickers will note he failed to change leads in the homestretch. By Uncaptured, Zelenskyy Strong is out of the Put It Back mare Deposit Only, making him a half-brother to the fast, precocious multiple stakes-winner Jackson.

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Walder between 1998 and 2013 fell into the vague category of “super trainer,” winning at a 31 percent clip, albeit on low volume, in 1998 and only falling below 25 percent winners three years during that span despite running a greater number of horses. Twice he topped 30 percent annual winners with more than 200 starts during those seasons, but only once since 2015 has he won even as frequently as 20 percent since 2014. Claiming remains the stable focus: Over the last year, Walder has started horses in 160 claiming races while saddling just two stakes starters. Zelenskyy Strong makes it three, and with speed, a favorable outside draw, and Irad Ortiz named to ride, he deserves attention.

Thing is, the Tremont drew a salty field this year, with sharp winners from Canada, Churchill, and here at Belmont, where the Rudy Rodriguez-trained Valenzan Day won the first 2-year-old race of the meet, on May 12, with a 76 Beyer.

“I was hoping it’d be me, Rudy, and a couple of maidens,” said Walder, “It came out tougher than I expected.”