Early Voting Gets First Winner as Valkyrie Scores at Churchill Downs

Valkyrie gave Early Voting the kind of result that can move a young stallion’s market overnight. The Arindel filly became his first winner from his first starter with a one-length score in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Churchill Downs, a clean first proof point for the Preakness Stakes winner standing at Taylor Made Stallions for an advertised fee of $12,500.

The filly did it in sharp fashion. Under Declan Cannon, Valkyrie set the pace through opening fractions of :23.17 and :45.70, then held on to finish in :52.97 for trainer Kenny McPeek. She was bred in Kentucky by Ashley Hiller and bought for $30,000 as a weanling at the 2024 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, a modest purchase that now looks even more efficient after a winning debut on dirt at Churchill.

For a freshman sire, first winners matter because they are the first concrete answer to the question breeders are really asking: can this horse pass on ability quickly? Early Voting arrived with the right credentials. He is a son of Gun Runner out of Amour d'Ete, by Tiznow, was foaled March 7, 2019, and was a homebred for Three Chimneys Farm who won the 2022 Preakness Stakes in 1:54.54 with Jose Ortiz aboard for Chad Brown and Klaravich Stables. Taylor Made has also pointed to that Preakness time as faster than the winning marks posted by American Pharoah and Justify.

The commercial case around him was already building before Valkyrie broke her maiden. Taylor Made said Early Voting’s first juveniles sold for as much as $850,000, $510,000, $510,000 and $475,000, while his early yearlings included a $700,000 juvenile and a $525,000 Keeneland September co-sale topper. The farm also said his Keeneland September yearlings averaged $152,147, a figure that gives breeders a benchmark as they weigh what his first runners might mean for the next sales season.

That is why Valkyrie’s win is more than a single maiden result. It gives Early Voting a live runner, a winner, and a first line on the page that breeders can point to when they decide whether to book back. In the freshman sire race, the first winner is often the moment perception starts to harden into demand.