At a Premium could be Walters’ next fabulous filly
Sophomore is 2-for-2 by a combined 25 1/2 lengths
Ted Black
June 9, 2026
Trainer David Walters has won over 1,600 races in his long career. But, having conditioned three Cavada winners and a WVBC Distaff heroine, he’s often been viewed as a ladies’ man.
Now he could be on the verge of attaining several more local stakes wins thanks to the recent emergence of a three-year-old filly named At a Premium, who has won each of her first two starts with something to spare.
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A sophomore daughter of Great Notion that Walters trains for owner-breeder Jill Daniel, At a Premium made an immediate impression when she romped home nearly 14 lengths clear in her debut March 26. She stopped the timer in an eye-opening 51.38 for 4 1/2 furlongs on a fast main track.
“I always knew that she had a little bit of ability when she first started training,” Walters said. “I thought she could win that first start, but you never know until they break from the gate under the lights. She made the front pretty easily and she won pretty easily, but it was a short field and there were no world-beaters in there. I thought the final time was really quick, but you can never know just based on time. She came out of it really good, but I decided not to nominate her to that first stakes [It’s Binn Too Long] because it was just too close to her first race.”
Her second start and her first attempt around two turns came on May 7 – and may have been even better.
Sent out as the 1-9 favorite in the first of a split, non-winners of two lifetime allowance for state-bred fillies and mares, At a Premium gained command soon after the break with jockey Jeiron Barbosa aboard and proceeded to widen her advantage with every stride en route to a 12-length victory. She completed the 6 ½ furlongs in a sharp 1:20.32 – more than two seconds faster than the 1:22.41 in which God’s Pride won the other half of the split condition for owner-breeder-trainer Tim Collins.
“I wanted to start stretching her out a little bit,” Walters said. “When that allowance race came up, I knew it would go and it ended up getting split. There wasn’t much in there and this filly ran tremendous that night. She made the lead pretty easily and Jeiron was able to rate her without really having to take a hold of her too much. She sprinted away from them on the far turn and she drew off without Jeiron really ever asking anything from her.”
Walters has already enjoyed ample success in state-bred stakes with talented distaffers Carnival Chrome, Longfield Star, and Cuppa Mocha Mojo, all of whom prevailed in the coveted West Virginia Cavada Breeders’ Classic.
Carnival Chrome rates the most accomplished of the group, concluding her career with 10 wins and nearly $500,000 banked from 16 lifetime tries, including four victories in the Sadie Hawkins Stakes.
All three won at first asking, with Cuppa Mocha Mojo prevailing by 12 in her debut at Charles Town.
“I’ve been fortunate to train some really nice West Virginia-bred fillies in my career,” Walters said. “They usually give you an indication early about their potential. I think this filly definitely has the ability to win a state-bred stakes at some point. I’m looking to find another two-turn allowance for her before she tries a state-bred stakes later this summer and then another one in the fall. It’s too soon to plan that far ahead. I’d like to just keep her with the three-year-old fillies this year.”
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