Shapiro’s Churchill mandatory pick 6 strategy: Key Walkathon

The Churchill Downs spring meeting is almost in the rearview mirror with Sunday being closing day beneath the historic twin spires. This means mandatory payouts on all wagers, including the Derby City 6, which once again saw multiple winning tickets on Saturday afternoon and has grown to $357,208.

As often is the case on closing day, there is a horseplayer-friendly combination of quality racing and solid field sizes. This includes a Derby City 6 sequence that contains four stakes races and concludes with a competitive maiden special weight on turf.

Finding a single is not always an easy task on cards such as this. It is not a necessity, but it does allow more wiggle room elsewhere, especially for those on a smaller budget. It is even more advantageous when you find a horse you are willing to lean on who is not only unlikely to be a single for most but might not even be on the majority of Pick 6 tickets.

I am hoping that is the case with Walkathon, who has been freshened up by trainer Ian Wilkes after a better-than-it-looks fifth-place finish in the Distafff Turf Mile (G2) on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

The Twirling Candy mare broke well and stalked just off the pace of California import Ag Bullet, who set a quick pace and tired badly, but Walkathon had much more stamina despite being up close to the honest first-half mile. The Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred easily disposed of the inside speed but was no match for the Chad Brown trio that came from off the pace to sweep the trifecta.

Prior to her stalk-and-fade effort in early May, Walkathon put forth another better-than-it-looks performance when finishing a mid-pack fifth in the Jenny Wiley (G1). In this 1 1/16-mile affair over the Keeneland sod, Walkathon was in tight early and never had much of a chance of making a serious impression with the speeds controlling things from start to finish. She followed them around the turf course at odds of 28-1. 

Walkathon gets class relief on Sunday in the non-graded Anchorage Overnight, where she is more than capable of springing the upset if she can relax and finish like she did in the Honey Fox (G3) in early March. In that one-mile event over the Gulfstream Park turf, Walkathon was outsprinted early but relaxed kindly under Julien Leparoux. The 5-year-old mare came with a strong late run but was outkicked by the razor sharp Chili Flag. The Chad Brown trainee beat Walkathon by a neck that day before rattling off wins in the Distaff Turf Mile (G2) and the Just a Game (G1). Obviously, the Wilkes trainee lost little in defeat that day. 

Walkathon’s versatility should prove valuable on Sunday with a move to an outside post and speeds drawn to her inside. This should give jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. options out of the gate. As long as she can avoid getting up in an early tussle, she has a big shot to get to the wire first at a juicy 8-1-offering.