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Hall of Fame- Walkover
Original article written by Melissa Mae posted 13 years 2 weeks agoStanding in a lush green pasture observing his loyal fans at Racing Heros Pension and Hospital in Kentucky is Walkover, one of the newest members of the SIM Hall of Fame. In the crowd of fans stands Jon Xett, the breeder and owner of this great gray stallion. Even at twenty years old, Walkover still has the power to take Xett’s breath away.
The son of Sea Hero hasn’t stepped on the track in sixteen years but doesn’t look like he’s been away from the track for more than a month. If he had a choice, he’d be facing his rivals Conduit and Loki Masterpiece next week. But those days are long past even if it seems just like yesterday to the older members of the SIM.
Walkover won eleven of his thirteen starts and never was off the board with his worst finish (a third) coming in his last start, the year eleven Steward’s Cup Classic, a race that he won in year ten. Walkover was part of the famed crop that included Conduit, Loki Masterpiece, Gaze Unwavering, and more. It was only natural that he would face the best of his crop day in and day out on the track.
Walkover started his career in a five furlong dirt sprint and won handily against a field of eight others. Less than three weeks later, he made his stakes debut in the G1 Oceanside Futurity where his running line read “Took the lead, drew far off, continued to pull away, impressive”. Jon Xett had to know he had something special after that race. The gray progressed up to route distances after winning the G2 Grey Steward’s Cup Stakes 2 years at a mile and closed out his season with the G1 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.
Talks of Walkover sweeping the Triple Crown were heard in the backside but it was never to be. Walkover never entered any of the Triple Crown races, instead opting for shorter routes. His three year old campaign started on week one in the G2 Lone Star Derby where only four others showed up to face him and he quickly put them away. Two weeks later in the G2 Arkansas Derby, he beat up on his foes by 8 ½ lengths with Xett smiling the whole time. Walkover took a four week break after his impressive win and dug his name farther into people’s memory by winning the G3 Long Branch Breeders’ Cup Stakes by an astonishing twelve and a half lengths.
Walkover’s only challenge of the year came in the Steward’s Cup Classic where he met up with some famous names such as No Tears Here, Fighting With Wit, and finally facing Loki Masterpiece. For the first time in his career, it looked like he might be defeated and he came down to the wire nose to nose with No Tears Here. The rest of the field was over a length behind. In a final surge, Walkover got his neck in front, stunning the crowd. Just like when man landed on the moon, old SIMsters can tell you where they were the day Walkover was finally challenged.
If Walkover’s battle took anything out of him, he didn’t show it in his first race of his four year old (and final) campaign. He beat up on a field of four others in the G3 Grand Canyon Handicap without breaking out of a canter. The horse hopped on a plane and shipped to Dubai for his next start in the Desert World Cup. It was a sold out crowd as six horses stepped on to the track, all showing the confidence that only racehorses can. Walkover was a little frisky in the post parade, nipping at the pony and prancing around, showing off for the crowd. His main competition in the race was Loki Masterpiece and Gaze Unwavering, who had finished 3rd and 4th respectively in the Steward’s Cup the year before.
In a battle for the ages, the three horses fought tooth and nail in the one and a quarter mile race, running eight lengths in front of the rest of the field. Gaze Unwavering shook the other two colts and pulled out a length in front, getting under the wire first. But Walkover was not going to finish third in his first defeat. He battled with Loki Masterpiece all the way to the wire and it was too close to call for everyone. They dead heated in an amazing battle that could not leave Walkover’s connections too disappointed with his loss. Walkover received a four week break after the race, flying all the way back to California for the G1 Pacific Classic. The horse had a scary gleam in his eye that sent the other horses packing as he won by four against Chesapeake Bay and at least sixteen against the rest of the field.
The King had been returned to his throne and Walkover appeared in Louisville as confident as ever for the Steward’s Cup Classic. The undefeated Conduit was a new threat for Walkover and his rival, Loki Masterpiece looked better than ever after two straight seven length wins between the Desert World Cup and the Steward’s Cup. Walkover stood out in the crowd as the only non-bay of the three colts and the horse’s connections hoped that was a good sign. The track was fast for the final race of Walkover’s career and he looked to be all business in the post parade, with none of the joking around he had done in Dubai. Behind the gate, the tension was felt as some of the best horses ever to run in the SIM loaded up.
It was clear from the start that this would be a three horse race when Conduit, Loki Masterpiece, and Walkover broke well away from the other nine horses. There was no settling back and gauging the pace, whoever tired first would be the one to finish third. The yell of the crowd was deafening as the horses rounded the turn. Conduit shook off the others and bounded in front but he was nearly ignored as all eyes turned to the battle between Loki Masterpiece and Walkover. It was eerily similar to a race only weeks before as the colts eyeballed each other, neither giving an inch. They bumped once, twice, three times in the final fifty yards of the stretch before Walkover tired and let his nemesis get his neck in front. The rivalry between the two had no clear winner with each besting the other once. But as Walkover was unsaddled and led back to the barn, it was clear that he still had great things ahead.
With only eighty one foals born to him, Walkover had sixty seven winners including Tiara (dam of Buckingham, Majesty, King, etc) and Run (half brother to Wonder). While he wasn’t an absolute standout in the shed, his influence can be felt many generations down the line as his grandfoals step onto the track.
The grand old man may not be talked about on the backstretch as much anymore, but his presence is felt every time one of the greats are mentioned. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Walkover, you deserve it.