The 151st Longines Kentucky Oaks will always be special for Will Walden. After growing up in the horse industry, he fell into addiction during college, struggling to turn his life around until he met Christian Countzler, who became a friend and mentor and helped Will enter a treatment program in 2018. Since then, and with plenty of support, the son of WinStar Farm’s Elliott Walden has built his own career as a trainer, hiring several members of his staff who have also achieved sobriety. “I got to where I was on my own – I didn’t get out of where I was on my own,” Will says.
Will and his team brought Bless the Broken to the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 2. The experience is bittersweet for Walden, who lost one of his friends, Taylor Made Farm horseman Josh Bryan, to complications from surgery in April. In the Oaks, Bless the Broken relished a wet track and outran her odds to finish third. “Our filly came and she brought it all,” Walden says.
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