Will Walden

Trainer Will Walden joined this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss his remarkable stable that is based on substance abuse recovery.

LEXINGTON, KY - In the end, not even Mother Nature could slow down the steady progress of the Keeneland January Horses of Racing Age Sale, which concluded Thursday in Lexington on par with its 2022 renewal despite a short delay to the start of the final session due to tornado warnings in the area. "We've got to be very happy with the way the sale turned out," said Keeneland's Vice President of Sales Tony Lacy. "It's been very busy in the barns.  A lot of sellers have been very pleased...

Kyle Berryman has a lot to look forward to as he opens a new chapter in 2023. He recently celebrated six months of sobriety and, two weeks ago, his boss Will Walden asked him if he would be interested in running the stable's shedrow. "It's just a title, but it's pretty cool," Berryman said after wrapping up a busy morning at Turfway Park. "I only have maybe five months of experience working with horses right now, so I'm still brand new and still learning a lot." He may shrug off...

Dazzlingdominika (Ghostzapper), a two-year-old filly who broke her maiden at Churchill Downs May 13 for trainer Will Walden, sold for $120,000 as the sole offering in Fasig-Tipton Digital's Ready Made Racing Flash Sale, which closed Thursday. Eric Waller purchased the filly from consignor Taylor Made Sales Agency, agent for Ready Made Racing. Bidding opened on Monday, May 23 at noon EDT and closed Thursday, May 26 at 2 p.m. EDT. A new venture, Ready Made Racing bought the Ghostzapper filly as a yearling for $30,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September...

When Dazzlingdominika (Ghostzapper) won a May 13 maiden special weight race at Churchill her connections were ready to pounce. The 2-year-old filly had become a hot commodity and they wanted to cash in. In year's past that would have meant selling her privately or waiting for the next horses of racing age sale on the calendar. Instead, she will be sold Thursday by Fasig-Tipton in a one-horse digital, "flash sale," a new means of selling horses that promises to make it easier for those looking to move horses fast. "This...

2nd-Churchill Downs, $86,540, Msw, 5-13, 2yo, f, 5f, :58.73, ft, 1 length. DAZZLINGDOMINIKA (f, 2, Ghostzapper--Trappingsofsilver, by Trappe Shot) improved for a seventh to 'TDN Rising Star' Love Reigns (Ire) (U S Navy Flag) sprinting over the Keeneland turf course Apr. 29 to become the first winner in the young career of trainer Will Walden Friday at Churchill Downs. Quickly into stride from her outside draw, the chestnut was overtaken to her outside by Ski Slope (Frosted) with 3 1/2 furlongs to race, but held her spot at the fence...

It wasn't that long ago that Will Walden, recovering from substance addiction, was working the morning shift at Wendy's, walking a mile and a half, sometimes in the snow, to get to a job where his duties included scraping old ketchup packets off of the concrete in the parking lot. "I got to a place that I'm not proud of. I was at the end of my rope. I was broken," Walden said. But his time at Wendy's, as humbling as it may have been, was an important step. He...