Stephen Foster Tops Charts On Closing Weekend At Churchill Downs

The Stephen Foster has long been one of the signature races of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet. Run since 1982, this mile and an eighth test for older horses on dirt began to really climb the charts in 1998 when the purse was bumped to an eye-popping $750,000. Always considered a logical launching pad for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, this race gained even more importance with the implementation of the “Win and You’re In” program in 2010. That means the horse that plays a winning tune in the Stephen Foster gets a fees paid automatic entry into the richest race run on American soil.

The 44^th running of the Foster will take place on June 28 and features a field that makes it a chart topper. It highlights an action-packed card that features six super competitive Stakes races on the final Saturday of the 2025 Spring Meet. Top action on both turf and dirt will be spinning the hits on this Super Saturday.

The grade 2 Fleur De Lis goes off as race 7 and offers an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff starting gates on November 1. Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna will take on four other talented females as they fight for their share of $500,000 in purse money.

The Kelly’s Landing Stakes will feature West Coast invader Dr. Venkman as he takes on seven rivals in this six-and-a-half-furlong sprint race on dirt. Going off as race 9, these older males will dash for $250,000 in cash.

Race 10 will be the grade 2 Wise Dan stakes for older males on turf. Named for one of the greatest grass runners ever ( 17 wins 2 seconds in his last 19 career starts), this mile and a sixteenth tussle on the turf features seven Stakes winners in the nine-horse field.

The album cover song of the day is race 11, the grade 1 Stephen Foster. Six of the seven entrants are graded stakes winners. Included in this super six are the top two finishers in the 2024 Kentucky Derby (Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone), the Dubai World Cup winner (Hit Show), a four-time graded Stakes winner (First Mission), the 2025 Hollywood Gold Cup winner (Skippylongstocking), and the 2025 Churchill Downs Stakes winner (Mindframe). As further testament to the quality of this field, the entrants have just over $26 million in career on-track earnings.

“When you line up the winner of Kentucky Derby 150 against the Grade 1 winners of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Dubai World Cup, and Churchill Downs Stakes as well as the Oaklawn Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup winners, you have the making of what could be the race of the year”, says Darren Rogers, senior director of communications for Churchill Downs.

The day concludes with the American Derby in race 12. Three-year-old males go a mile and a sixteenth on grass with eyes on a $250,000 purse. Featured in this tantalizing ten horse field will be 2025 Kentucky Derby entrants Flying Mohawk and Tiztastic.

The competition promises to be fierce and the speculation opportunities numerous. The final six races on the card are all Stakes races and this will make up the 20-cent pick six. Also, an All-Stakes $3 turf pick 3 will be featured on closing weekend. First post on June 28 will be at 12:45 eastern time.