Brendan P. Walsh

Brendan Walsh, a former assistant to Eddie Kenneally, picked up his first win as a trainer in 2012. The Ireland native notched his first graded stakes win in 2014 and in 2017 was present on the Triple Crown trail with Illinois Derby winner Multiplier. Walsh's other top runners include multiple graded stakes winners Scuba, Proctor's Ledge, and Honorable Duty.

In 2019 Walsh sent Derby hopeful Plus Que Parfait to Dubai to compete in the UAE Derby, and the ridgling responded willingly to win the $2.5 million race and earn a place in the Kentucky Derby starting gate.

One of several trainers for the global powerhouse Godolphin Stable, Walsh earned his first Grade 1 win when Godolphin homebred Maxfield won the 2019 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity. Maxfield added a second Grade 1 win in 2021, when Walsh set new career highs for wins with 81. The following year, Walsh set a new personal best in purse earnings with more than $8.6 million while winning three Grade 1 races in 2022. 

Walsh added a marquee win in May 2023 when he sent out Godolphin's Pretty Mischievous to a victory in the $1.25-million Longines Kentucky Oaks, his first win in the most important U.S. race for 3-year-old fillies.

Walsh added a Grade 1 win with East Avenue in the 2024 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity, and then had a career year in 2025 with Grade 1 wins by Clicquot, Lush Lips, and Gin Gin and more than $15.6 million in purse earnings.

Expensive Queen and Emphatic added to Walsh’s Grade 1 tally in 2026, and Emphatic gave him his first win at the Breeders;’ Cup World Championships when she streaked clear in the stretch and held off a rally from Miss Monica to win the $2 million Juvenile Fillies Oct. 30, 2026, at Keeneland.