No Nay Mets #2 with Paco Lopez riding won the $100,000 Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park July 30, 2023. (Melissa Torres/EQUI-PHOTO)
Next Opens 2024 Campaign In Isaac Murphy Marathon
Churchill Downs Release
LOUISVILLE, Ky.– Bregman Family Racing, WWBD and Edge Racing’s three-time stakes winning No Nay Mets (IRE) headlines a field of 12 3-year-olds plus three also-eligibles entered Wednesday for the ninth running of the $300,000 William Walker (Listed) going 5 ½ furlongs on the Matt Winn Turf Course on Champions Day at Churchill Downs.
The William Walker will be one of two stakes run on the afternoon of May 1 and will follow the sixth running of the $200,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes for 4-year-olds and up at 1 ½ miles on the main track. The William Walker is the afternoon’s ninth race with a 4:52 p.m. (all times Eastern) post time. The Isaac Murphy precedes the William Walker at 4:19 p.m.
Trained by George Weaver, No Nay Mets closed 2023 by finishing fourth as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (GI) at Santa Anita and was fourth in the Palisades (Listed) at Keeneland April 7 in his 2024 debut. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount from post 6.
The field for the William Walker
Next Opens 2024 Campaign In Isaac Murphy Marathon
Michael Foster’s Next, who emerged as the top long-distance runner on dirt in North America in 2023, will make his 2024 debut next Wednesday when he faces seven rivals in the Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes.
Trained by Doug Cowans, Next has won five of his past six starts with the lone defeat coming as the favorite in the Murphy last year. After that, he won his next three starts by a combined 39 lengths including a 25-length blowout in the Greenwood Cup (GIII) at Parx on Sept. 23.
Luan Machado has the mount and will exit post 7.
The field for the Isaac Murphy Marathon Overnight Stakes
