Gulfstream: Walkathon Continues Comeback in Honey Fox (G3)

By David Joseph —-

Walkathon Continues Comeback in Honey Fox (G3)

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL – Back in the spring of 2022, a filly named Walkathon was going places. It seemed like she could do no wrong as she ripped off three consecutive wins, including her first graded stakes victory.

Then it all stopped.

The comeback story that began last summer of the now 5-year-old mare continues Saturday when she runs in the $150,000 Honey Fox (G3) on the Gulfstream Park turf.

The one-mile Honey Fox for fillies and mares 4 and up is the eighth of nine stakes, eight graded, worth $1.85 million in purses on a blockbuster 14-race program headlined by the $400,000 Coolmore Fountain of Youth (G2) for 3-year-olds.

Walkathon, owned by Whitham Thoroughbreds LLC, is trained by Ian Wilkes. It crushed them all when they had to put Walkathon on the equine disabled list after her most impressive win in the Regret (G3) at Churchill Downs June 4, 2022. That was her first start in a graded stake.

Big plans were made to run next in the $700,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G3) at Saratoga Race Course in August. Walkathon never made it. She got injured and Wilkes had to stop on her.

That stop turned into a 453-day roadblock. Walkathon did not return to the races until Aug. 31 of last year. It took her five races before she found the winner’s circle again and that came Feb. 3 when she was a front-running winner in the 1 1/16-mile Endeavour Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs.

Wilkes has Walkathon aimed at another prize on Saturday.

“It has really taken her a while to get back to that form she showed in the Regret,” Wilkes said. “After that long of a layoff, you don’t know what to expect. But, when you had a filly as good as she was, you expect her to be good.”

Wilkes gives major credit to the owners: Janis Whitham and her son Clay, who also bred Walkathon. The owner-trainer combo has had success in the past. In 2012, they teamed up to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) with Fort Larned.

Wilkes said it was their desire to see if their mare could make it back to the races and be as sharp as she once was.

The jury was still out until the race at Tampa. In Walkathon’s four prior comeback races, she hit the board just once, a third-place finish in an allowance on the Keeneland turf.

She ended last year with a fifth on a soggy turf course at Churchill Downs in the Cardinal Stakes (G3). Then she was fourth after a wide journey – but only beaten 2 1/4 lengths – in the Suwannee River (G3) at Gulfstream Dec. 30.

In the Endeavour, Walkathon was allowed to set soft fractions and cleared for a 1 1/2-length win.

“The race set up perfect for her,” Wilkes said. “Sometimes, you just have to create your own luck. She doesn’t have to have the lead.”

After three races on dirt to start her career and one on synthetic, Walkathon has raced exclusively on grass and has four wins in eight tries on the green. She will be reunited with jockey Julien Leparoux in the Honey Fox; he has ridden her eight times.

Wilkes’ biggest concern was whether the mare would still want to compete after being off for nearly 15 months.

“That is what you worry about, that is what you have to find out,” he said. “The Whithams are sporting people; they wanted to give her a shot to come back and be a horse. We want to see how good she can be.”

Walkathon will have to deal with trainer Chad Brown, who is going after his fourth win in the Honey Fox. He has won the last two editions of the race with Faith in Humanity last year and In Italian in 2022, and will look for his third in a row with Chili Flag, last seen finishing sixth in the Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G2) Jan. 27. That was her first start since Nov. 23.

Also entered are Miss Carol Ann, Candy Light, Be My Sunshine, Spansive, For the Flag, Mohawk Trail, Time Passage, Infinite Diamond and Ancient Peace.

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