Walkathon holds off Forever After All in Anchorage Stakes

Walkathon got too much of a fast pace fading to fifth last month in the Grade 2 Distaff Turf Mile, but a class drop and a more favorable race shape Sunday got Walkathon a win in the $175,000 Anchorage Stakes at Churchill Downs.

While Brian Hernandez hardly sent Walkathon to the front, he clearly had designs on leading and wouldn’t let Florent Geroux, riding favored Heavenly Sunday inside him, come through and set the pace. When Geroux partway around the first turn of this older-female turf route took back to come outside and stalk Walkathon, Hernandez had accomplished his goal. Slowing the pace, Walkathon went 24.18 and 49.54, a far cry from the 47.20 half-mile she pressed facing much strong opposition in the Distaff Turf Mile.

Geroux coaxed Heavenly Sunday nearer Walkathon approaching the quarter pole, but Hernandez had plenty of horse, Walkathon opening a 1 1/2-length lead by the stretch call, her final three furlongs in 35.68 fast enough to hold clear Forever After All and tally by a half-length. Forever After All stalked the pace from fourth, then third, finishing fastest to beat third-place Heavenly Sunday by 1 1/2 lengths.

Walkathon clocked 1:49.69 for 1 1/8 miles on a “good” grass course and paid $8.10 as the well-backed second choice. Misread and Fast as Flight, who might have been favored, were scratched.

Ian Wilkes trains Walkathon for her breeder, Whitham Thoroughbreds. Five-year-old Walkathon, a daughter of Twirling Candy and the Stroll mare Walkabout, won the Grade 3 Regret at Churchill in June of her 3-year-old season but didn’t race again for 14 months. She then lost her first four starts over a period of five months before going wire to wire in the Endeavour at Tampa Bay Downs in February and, allowed to walk on the lead Sunday, Walkathon won for the fifth time in 16 starts.

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