Forever After All Wins Bewitch, Walsh Ties for Title

Even though she was carrying an unborn foal in her womb, there was no stopping Forever After All  as she romped home the easiest of winners in the April 25 Bewitch Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland.

Forever After All, an estimated 24-25 days in foal to super horse Flightline  , decimated her rivals by nine lengths on closing day of the Keeneland spring meet. Her victory wrapped up the first Keeneland training title for trainer Brendan Walsh.

"Sometimes when they're in foal like that, they seem to find a bit extra," Walsh said. "I didn't expect her to win that easy. But she owes us nothing. She's improved the whole time we've had her. She's just a cool mare to be around, she's very easy to train, you just point her in the right direction and she does the rest."

A homebred for Dixiana Farms, Forever After All has been enjoying her best season yet as a 6-year-old. The daughter of Connect   had scored her first graded stakes victory this winter at Gulfstream Park in the La Prevoyante Stakes (G3T) on the Pegasus World Cup undercard.

The narrow favorite in the field of seven older fillies and mares, even Walsh was unsure of how Forever After All would handle the boggy turf course, saturated from incessant rain showers across the Lexington area. However, scratching wasn't to be an option for Forever After All. Walsh said the mare would likely only have "two or three" races left to run, abiding by the Kentucky state law that asserts a "filly or mare in-foal shall not be entered in a race 120 days or more after the date of last cover."

The yielding turf wouldn't be a factor.

Under a textbook ride from jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Forever After All bided her time in the two path just behind early fractions of :24.32, :49.41, and 1:15.30. Swung three-wide turning for home, the mare quickened deftly through the bog, widening her advantage with every stride to the wire.

Forever After All ($5.62) clocked the 1 1/2 miles in 2:35.56. Youknownothing  and Immensitude  completed the trifecta.

Forever After All is out of the stakes-winning Giant's Causeway mare Julia Tuttle, making her a half to grade 1 winner and second-crop sire Tom's d'Etat  , by Smart Strike. Her sire Connect, a grandson of Smart Strike, stands at Lane's End near Versailles, Ky., for a 2025 fee of $10,000.

Although Walsh had taken a narrow lead in what had been a tight race for the Keeneland trainer's title in the Bewitch, Brad Cox evened the score two races later when Tickled Quist  went gate to wire in a turf maiden special weight. The trainers tied for the spring training title with 10 wins apiece.

Walsh captured three graded stakes races during the spring meet. In addition to Forever After All's Bewitch win, the trainer scored in the Doubledogdare Stakes (G3) with Gin Gin  and the Lexington Stakes (G3) with Gosger . His trainee East Avenue  also solidified his starting slot in the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1) with a nose loss to Burnham Square  in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) to begin the meet.

"Who would've thought? It's been a great meet," Walsh said. "It's great to have horses of that caliber to be competitive in a meet like this. Especially on one of our home tracks. It's a tribute to our owners for supplying us with the horses and mainly to my staff, who work very hard day in and day out. I owe a lot to them."

Cox netted his second spring meet title and seventh title overall.

Video: Bewitch S. Presented by Keeneland Sales (G3T)

Keeneland Spring Meet Leaders and Handle

In another down-to-the-wire finish, Flavien Prat prevailed by two wins over Luis Saez and Jose Ortiz for the Keeneland spring meet riding title. Prat piloted Carl Spackler  and Extra Anejo  to their respective victories in the Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (G1T) and Commonwealth Stakes (G3). Last year's Eclipse Award-winning jockey, Prat recorded 20 overall wins for the spring meet.

Brad Kelley's Calumet Farm won five races, including two stakes, to be the spring meet's leading owner. It is the second leading owner title for Calumet under Kelley's ownership. Calumet won the Doubledogdare with Gin Gin and the Ben Ali Stakes (G3) with Tennessee Lamb  in back-to-back days April 18-19.

All-sources wagering (not including whole-card simulcasting at Keeneland) for the 15-day spring meet of $192,676,486 was down 11.92% from last spring's 16-day meet total of $218,741,501.

Due to inclement storms that tore across Kentucky during the first weekend of April, Keeneland management made the decision to move the first two opening days of the meet, which included the Ashland Stakes (G1) and Blue Grass Stakes, to Monday, April 7, and Tuesday, April 8. The spring meet handle was significantly impacted by the rescheduled opening because the Ashland and Blue Grass stakes race days are among the biggest of the year at Keeneland. All-sources wagering on Ashland day was $11,465,100 versus $18,174,298 in 2024, while wagering on Blue Grass day was $20,330,175 versus $29,261,347 last year, a combined difference of $15.7 million.

On-track handle totaled $13,290,263, a decrease of 16.05% compared to $15,831,087 last year.

"The success of this spring meet is a salute to the power of teamwork, and we are grateful to all who helped as we navigated the weather-related challenges of opening weekend," Keeneland president and CEO Shannon Arvin said. "Moving our two biggest race days—opening Friday and Saturday—to Monday and Tuesday, when we typically don't race, wasn't easy, but it was the right decision to keep our horses and community safe. I am proud of the resiliency of our Keeneland team, and we offer a huge thanks for the support of our horsemen, sponsors, and fans."