by James Platz

Today’s (July 14) card at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel features eight $100,000 Kentucky Sire Stakes contests for 2- and 3-year-old pacers and trotters. Among the freshman distaff pacers that will go to post in the day’s 11th race is undefeated homebred Skywalker Sea. Bred and owned by Buckeye Greg Luther, the Downbytheseaside—Pet Walker lass looks to extend her streak after a track record performance last week.

“This is a very special filly because she is going to keep it going for us,” Luther said of the freshman. “I can’t wait to get a bunch of money on her card and get her bred so that we can get a fourth generation out of the family.”

The family begins with grandam Miss Walker, a mare the owner acquired in August 2009. Sired by Aces N’ Sevens and out of the Abercrombie mare Chris Walker, Miss Walker made 129 starts, winning 30 times and hitting the board on another 42 occasions. She would earn $132,412 on the track before Luther transitioned her to a broodmare.

“She always had a lot of heart,” Luther said. “She wasn’t a great racehorse, but she always tried hard for all she had. I always thought that if we could breed her to some good stallions, maybe we would get some great babies out of her. She just had another baby a couple months ago.”

Five of Miss Walker’s first six foals have reached the winner’s circle, led by 25-time winner Nvrpoptdaplugs, a gelded son of Big Bad John with nearly $240,000 on his card and still racing. Pet Walker, the mare’s second foal, went unraced at 2 for Luther, but as a 3-year-old, she scored four wins while taking a mark of 1:52. Unfortunately, the Pet Rock filly was retired after only 11 starts due to injury.

“She was one of the better ones,” the owner/breeder said. “She actually won a couple of sires stakes and she was the points leader, but she tore a suspensory a week before the final. We had to retire her from racing after that. Pet Walker actually had a medical emergency last year and we lost her.”

Which is what makes Skywalker Sea so special. Luther envisioned Pet Walker producing babies for years to come. She only managed two foals, Skywalker Sea being the last. She has shown in short order that she is the best to come from the breeding program.

“I can actually see the progression of us making the family better generation after generation,” Luther said. “Obviously, Skywalker Sea has shown she is by far the best of them here, and she’s got a lot left in the tank too.”

When Pet Walker was retired, Luther set his sights on breeding her to Downbytheseaside, but the son of Somebeachsomewhere’s book was full and closed. He reached out to Diamond Creek initially with no success. Then he tried a different approach.

“When the ‘Seasides’ first came out, they were very, very high priced,” Luther said. “I bought more six-figure Seasides than anyone else. I wanted to breed Pet Walker to Seaside, but his book was full and closed. So, I sent them all of my sale slips and I said, please?”

A spot was found, and when Pet Walker was bred to Downbytheseaside, she caught the first time. The dual-eligible filly was entrusted to Luther’s brother, Todd, and this winter she appeared to be a promising young pacer.

“Training down probably halfway through the winter she started showing a little bit of a sign that she was really good,” the owner said. “Once she hit 2:10, that’s when we could really tell this horse was special. Every time we’ve trained her and every time we’ve raced her since then, she’s shown a little bit more.”

Skywalker Sea turned in two winning qualifiers at Scioto Downs with Brett Miller in the bike. When she made her pari-mutuel debut at Oak Grove on June 24, Yannick Gingras handled the driving duties. Debuting in a $40,000 KYSS leg, the pair got away fifth from the rail but would take command as the field moved to the half. Clicking off quarters of :27.4 and :28.1, Skywalker Sea cruised to a 10-length victory. Last week, Gingras settled in fourth from post 7 and waited to move after a :57 opening half. Producing a :55 back half, the filly won handily by 2½ lengths. The winning time of 1:52 knocked three-fifths of a second off the previous mark for 2-year-old pacing fillies, set by Calgary in 2022.

“I wasn’t there, but I guess walking into the winner’s circle Yannick told Todd, ‘I’ve got nothing to tell you. She had so much left, there’s nothing to change. She’s absolutely perfect, just take care of her,’” Greg said. “I’ve been doing this a long time and it’s impressive to me when you hear a driver of that capacity, somebody like Yannick, saying this filly is unbelievable. It’s such a great feeling, and it’s extra special when you’ve had the family and it’s a homebred.”

With an unblemished record, Skywalker Sea has drawn post 5 in the seven-filly field, and is the heavy favorite. The freshman has the brothers Luther in unfamiliar waters, where the challenge is managing the season to take advantage of all opportunities. They plan to race the filly in Kentucky and Ohio enough that, should she continue her success, she will be eligible to the sires stakes finals in both jurisdictions. They are also trying to protect the filly and minimize her starts with the end of the season and the Breeders Crown in mind. The owner is equally intent on continuing the legacy started with Miss Walker.

“She’ll let us know as we’re going,” Greg said. “Of course, I want to try to be cautious with her. I’ve told my brother, anything that happens, no matter what, save this filly. She is the most important thing I have right now. I want to keep this family going. We’re trying to do right by her and enjoy the ride.”