Sports reporter

Childs Walker

Childs Walker is a sports enterprise reporter. Since 2001, he has covered Carroll County politics, Anne Arundel County land use, the Orioles, higher education, the 9/11 attacks, a Super Bowl and more. He grew up in Baltimore, learning to put Old Bay on everything and be suspicious of Washington, attended Gilman and graduated from Emory University.

Jockey Jose L. Ortiz, reacts after winning the Preakness Stakes on Early Voting at Preakness 2022 on May 21, 2022.

Preakness 2022: ‘Everything lined up’ for Early Voting but what about for the Triple Crown series?

May 23, 2022 at 12:16 p.m.

Chad Brown's heart sang as he watched the Preakness unfold according to the plan he and Seth Klarman had concocted six weeks earlier. Using all their best data and intuition,...

Jockey Jose L. Ortiz reacts after winning the Preakness Stakes on Early Voting on Saturday at Pimlico.

Preakness 2022: Early Voting outpaces favorite Epicenter, giving Baltimore native Seth Klarman a ‘twice in a lifetime’ moment

May 22, 2022 at 4:38 a.m.

They pulled it off again. Five years after trainer Chad Brown and owner Seth Klarman took the 2017 Preakness with Cloud Computing, a horse that would never win another race,...

Many fans assumed trainer D. Wayne Lukas had won his last Triple Crown race after he took the 2013 Preakness with Oxbow. Now, he's 86 and back at the center of the Preakness narrative with champion filly Secret Oath.

Preakness 2022: At age 86, D. Wayne Lukas takes another shot with Secret Oath: ‘He hasn’t forgotten how to train a horse’

May 21, 2022 at 12:01 a.m.

D. Wayne Lukas would never stop. If he thought ahead at all during the 1980s and 1990s, years when he dominated thoroughbred racing, the word retirement did not compute. "I...

Trainer Kenny McPeek holds Preakness contender Creative Minister as he is bathed following the Thursday morning workout on the Pimlico track.

Rich Strike’s withdrawal from Preakness reignites debate over extending Triple Crown schedule: ‘I think it would work’

May 18, 2022 at 1:38 p.m.

When Rick Dawson decided his Kentucky Derby winner, Rich Strike, would skip the Preakness, he reignited a decades-old debate about the spacing of the Triple Crown series, which many horsemen...

Preakness 2022: Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter a 6-5 morning-line favorite in nine-horse field; will break from No. 8 post

May 17, 2022 at 3:48 a.m.

Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter is a 6-5 favorite in the morning line for the 147th Preakness, where he will try to reclaim his status as the top horse in this...

Rich Strike, right, with Sonny Leon aboard passes Epicenter, left, with Joel Rosario aboard at the finish line to win the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7 in Louisville, Ky. Rich Strike's withdrawal from the Preakness reframed the narrative for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Two elite trainers seeking their first Kentucky Derby win will saddle the favorites, Zandon and Epicenter, for Saturday’s race

May 7, 2022 at 12:59 p.m.

When Steve Asmussen walked out of his barn on the afternoon of May 5, 2007, he knew, just knew, that he was going to win the Kentucky Derby. He grasped...

Childs Walker

All Stories

Preakness 2022: ‘Everything lined up’ for Early Voting but what about for the Triple Crown series?

Preakness 2022: Early Voting outpaces favorite Epicenter, giving Baltimore native Seth Klarman a ‘twice in a lifetime’ moment

Preakness 2022: At age 86, D. Wayne Lukas takes another shot with Secret Oath: ‘He hasn’t forgotten how to train a horse’

Rich Strike’s withdrawal from Preakness reignites debate over extending Triple Crown schedule: ‘I think it would work’

Preakness 2022: Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter a 6-5 morning-line favorite in nine-horse field; will break from No. 8 post

Five storylines to watch for the 2022 Preakness

Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike to skip Preakness, depriving Triple Crown race of its usual dramatic buildup

Rich Strike likely headed for Preakness after stunning Kentucky Derby win

Rich Strike wins 2022 Kentucky Derby in stunning upset as 80-1 long shot

Two elite trainers seeking their first Kentucky Derby win will saddle the favorites, Zandon and Epicenter, for Saturday’s race