Walsh, Ommadon eye deep waters

By John Manley

At this time of year, the usual suspects are deep into the heart of Kentucky Derby preparations. Guys named Baffert, Lukas, Zito and others are well into Plan A, with Plans B and C ready to be implemented if needed. For these gentlemen, the year’s success will be measured largely by how well fate treats them between now and the completion of the Belmont Stakes in June.

Then we have Tom Walsh, a name not much associated with stakes horses in recent years, never mind candidates for the classics. But scratch your memory and you might remember that he saddled such black type winners as Petrograd (1973 Gravesend and Sport Page Handicaps), Nice Pirate (1985 Display Handicap), Ridin’ Easy (1969 Fashion Stakes), Darlin Danika (1997 Mount Vernon Handicap) and a filly named Missymooiloveyou (1992 Miss Grillo Stakes and 1993 Tanya Stakes). The latter filly was mated with Grindstone, the 1996 Kentucky Derby winner, and produced a bay colt, which was named Ommadon by owner-breeder Dr. James Kirvin of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Based on his victory in last November’s Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct, Ommadon is regarded as a potential starter at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. But the prospect of saddling his first Triple Crown runner isn’t taking Walsh’s breath away.

"I really don’t care if I go or not," Walsh said after completing his morning chores at Belmont Park recently. Ommadon has yet to start this year and his travel plans will be dictated solely by what he accomplishes at Aqueduct in the coming weeks.

"I don’t like to ship. And we’ve got to jump in the water somewhere and see where we are."

The "water" is likely to be a non-winners of two "other than" allowance, followed by the Wood Memorial, if all goes well. Walsh dismissed the idea of prepping for the Wood by running in the Gotham Stakes later this month. He finds no wisdom in sending his colt out to contest fast early splits in a one-turn mile as preparation for an engagement in the nine-furlong Wood, run around two turns.

Although Walsh may be a stranger to those who are only casually acquainted with the sport, he has wisdom aplenty, learned as a member of one of the most storied of Irish racing families, with accomplishments on both sides of the Atlantic. His father, James, left County Cork and settled on Long Island’s North Shore in Great Neck. James Walsh established a riding academy on the site where Leonard’s Catering now stands. James’s brother Michael also set out for these shores and embarked on a career training thoroughbreds. His prowess with jumpers earned him a place in Racing’s Hall of Fame.

Another branch of the family enjoyed its finest moment last year, when first cousin Ted Walsh trained Papillon to win the Grand National at Aintree, with Ted’s son Ruby in the saddle. Before he took up training, Tom Walsh enjoyed an illustrious career as a steeplechase jockey. He was the leading jumps rider in the U.S. in 1960 and 1966, and won five straight runnings of this country’s Grand National.

Walsh then showed his mettle as a trainer by getting his horses to excel running short (Petrograd set two Aqueduct track records sprinting) as well as long (Nice Pirate won the 18-furlong Display). Despite this, Walsh’s profile has been on the low side over the last 10 years, training mainly New York-breds of modest accomplishment.

So, it made perfect sense that Ommadon was allowed to go off at long odds in his winning debut at Saratoga last August. Walsh wanted to try the colt at a route, but with few allowance races being written at that time of year for a 2-year-old going long, Walsh plunged right into graded stakes company, sending Ommadon out in the Futurity at Belmont. The colt finished fourth, then was farther back in the Champagne, four weeks later.

Walsh then fitted Ommadon with blinkers and sent him out to win the Nashua at Aqueduct. The colt completed his 2-year-old season with a strong second to Windsor Castle in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct. Walsh kept the colt with him in New York, rather than ship him to a more temperate climate for the winter.

"Jim [Kirvin] just likes to leave them here," Walsh said. "By the time you ship and everything, you might as well have stayed here. If the track had gotten bad, we’d probably have gone to Florida with him, but the track’s been good all winter."

Should Ommadon ace his coming tests and find himself entered in one of the three Triple Crown races, his pedigree should serve him well. Grindstone won the Derby, as did his sire, Unbridled. On the dam’s side, the names Alydar and Damascus appear two generations back.

Although Ommadon popped a splint in February and had to stop training briefly, Walsh says that he’s basically a sound horse, an attribute that cannot be ascribed to Grindstone, which was retired after his Derby triumph.

So, maybe Ommadon takes after his dam? "His mother was sound, she kind of passed it onto him, I guess," Walsh said, although that’s where the resemblance ends. "I don’t know where he came from, but he’s got none of her. She was kind of high strung and flighty, but nothing bothers him."

The ability to move forward from the form shown the previous year is the major issue looming for all 3-year-olds as they seek to etch their names into racing’s pantheon. If Ommadon has the raw talent to match strides with the fastest, expect Tom Walsh to coax it from him.