Churchill Kicks Off Spring Meet With William Walker

Churchill Downs will kick off the spring meet April 24 with a Downs After Dark card featuring the $150,000 William Walker Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for sophomores that attracted an overflow field of 12.

With 10 set to run, stakes-placed Into the Sunrise  and allowance winner Charles Chrome  are listed as also-eligibles for the William Walker, which goes as Race 9 with a post time of 10:11 p.m. ET. All runners carry 118 pounds. The temporary rail on the turf course will be in Lane 3, 22 feet from the inside hedge, on Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The rail will be taken down for racing on Kentucky Oaks Day and Kentucky Derby Day.

The globetrotting Cowan  returns stateside and continues his quest for success with a return to the turf off a 10th in the March 27 Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored by Azizi Developments on the main track at Meydan. Trained by Steve Asmussen for William and Corinne Heiligbrodt, Madaket Stables, and Spendthrift Farm, the Kantharos   colt broke his maiden at first asking sprinting on the dirt at Churchill last May and has been the bridesmaid five times since then, including in the Feb. 20 Al Rajhi Bank Saudi Derby at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Saudi Arabia, in the Jan. 22 Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park, and in the Remington Springboard Mile at Remington Park at the end of 2020.

Last year Cowan ran out a pair of close seconds sprinting on the lawn, including a three-quarters of a length loss to Golden Pal  in the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) at Keeneland after a one-length miss to Bodenheimer  in the Lexington track's Oct. 4 Indian Summer Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select. Luis Saez has the call from post 8.

Kristin Boice and Marylou Holden's Bodenheimer is the lone stakes winner in the field and looks to return to the form that saw him take the Indian Summer. The Valorie Lund trainee, also winner of the Prairie Gold Juvenile Stakes last year at Prairie Meadows, needs to rebound off a sixth in Keeneland's April 2 Palisades Turf Sprint Stakes, his first start since running eighth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at the Lexington track. Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount from post 7 on the son of Atta Boy Roy  .

Trainer Wesley Ward sends out two contenders—Breeze Easy's Roderick  and Silverton Hill's homebred Next —which will break beside each other from posts 1 and 2. Roderick, who drew the inside under Drayden Van Dyke, looks to rebound after finishing sixth and last of all in the March 6 Hutcheson Stakes on dirt at Gulfstream Park after winning a five-furlong allowance by 3 3/4 lengths Nov. 29 on the Churchill main track, and tries turf for the second time in what will be his seventh start. The son of Into Mischief   was fifth in the Indian Summer in his turf debut. Next, a son of Not This Time   with Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the irons, will be making his first start since he ran last of 14 in the Nov. 6 TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) at Keeneland. 

Mike Maker sends out Paradise Farms and David Staudacher's Kasim , runner-up in the March 20 Texas Glitter Stakes, where he was steadied early and made a late rally going five furlongs on the turf at Gulfstream The Munnings   colt has a pair of wins under his belt in maiden and starter/optional claimer company at the Florida track. 

Klein Racing's homebred Field Day  finished third in the Texas Glitter, where he was also steadied. The Broken Vow gelding won a March 10 allowance optional claimer going five furlongs on the Gulfstream lawn by two lengths before wheeling back for trainer Brad Cox.

Allowance optional claiming winner Lookin for Loki  and maiden winners Rockstar Ro , Cees Get Degrees , and Unitedandresolute  complete the field. The latter, a son of Violence   campaigned by Tom Amos for Corser Thoroughbreds, was third last out in his stakes debut in the Palisades Turf Sprint.

Entries: William Walker S.

Churchill Downs, Saturday, April 24, 2021, Race 9

• STK
• 5 1/2f
• Turf
• $150,000
• 3 yo
• 10:11 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Roderick (KY)	Drayden Van Dyke	118	Wesley A. Ward	9/2
2	2Next (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	Wesley A. Ward	9/2
3	3Field Day (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	118	Brad H. Cox	4/1
4	4Kasim (KY)	Gerardo Corrales	118	Michael J. Maker	5/1
5	5Unitedandresolute (KY)	Florent Geroux	118	Thomas M. Amoss	15/1
6	6Rockstar Ro (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	118	Brian A. Lynch	15/1
7	7Bodenheimer (WA)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Valorie Lund	8/1
8	8Cowan (KY)	Luis Saez	118	Steven M. Asmussen	7/2
9	9Cees Get Degrees (KY)	Colby J. Hernandez	118	Michelle Lovell	50/1
10	10Lookin for Loki (KY)	Mitchell Murrill	118	Chris A. Hartman	15/1
11	11Into the Sunrise (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	Wesley A. Ward	6/1
12	12Charles Chrome (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	118	J. Reeve McGaughey	10/1