Maude Walsh (left) with the connections of Farrell, winner of this year’s Shuvee. NYRA/Adam Coglianese

If your horse has won a graded stakes race at Saratoga recently, you’ll know her face. If you’ve attended the morning workouts at Saratoga over the last few years, you’ll know her voice.

And if you watched the trophy presentation after the Grade 3 Shuvee at Saratoga on July 29, you heard her name: Maude Walsh.

It is no accident that Walsh was asked to present that particular trophy. Her father, Don LaPlace, was Shuvee’s regular exercise rider, and when she retired at age five, it was LaPlace who rode her as she paraded on the track, giving her myriad fans a chance to bid her farewell.

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