{"id":211547,"date":"2025-06-24T22:46:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T22:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/211547\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T22:46:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T22:46:15","slug":"why-saturdays-stephen-foster-card-is-a-stellar-springboard-to-horse-racings-second-half","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/211547\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Saturday\u2019s Stephen Foster Card is a Stellar Springboard to Horse Racing\u2019s Second Half"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three weeks after the conclusion of the 2025 Triple Crown, horse racing\u2019s second half shifts into gear with a star-studded card at Churchill Downs<\/a> June 28 headlined by the $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the first half of the horse racing calendar is all 3-year-olds all the time on the path to Louisville for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve<\/a> \u2013 followed in quick succession by the Preakness Stakes<\/a> and Belmont Stakes<\/a> \u2013 the second half of the year builds through the summer and fall leading into the Breeders\u2019 Cup World Championships<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The royal meeting at Ascot provided many highlights and four Win and You\u2019re In automatic bids for the World Championships Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Del Mar<\/a>, but make no mistake, the Stephen Foster card is what gets the Breeders\u2019 Cup ball rolling stateside with six stakes races worth a combined $2.75 million.<\/p>\n

This year, even more than in years past, Stephen Foster day features a multitude of great storylines with the 2024 Longines Kentucky Oaks<\/a> winner and reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna<\/a> running four races before 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan<\/a>. The main event, the Stephen Foster, features a rematch of the top two finishers from the 2024 Kentucky Derby (Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone<\/a>); two of this year\u2019s Derby starters will shift back to turf for the American Derby; and two of the best U.S. turf horses this century (Tepin<\/a> and Wise Dan<\/a>) have races named in their honor that drew terrific fields.<\/p>\n

Going back through past Kentucky Derbys, the last time I could find that the top two finishers from the Kentucky Derby faced off again as 4-year-olds was all the way back in 1992. Strike the Gold and Best Pal<\/a>, the top two from the 1991 Kentucky Derby, met as 4-year-olds in the Pimlico Special Stakes May 9, 1992 at Pimlico. Strike the Gold rallied from last to first to win by three-quarters of a length and halt a 12-race winless stretch that followed the Derby, with Best Pal fading to fourth as the 3-5 favorite. That was 33 years ago and I was about to graduate from high school. Wow!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Stephen Foster card boasts a compelling slate of races for bettors and fans alike, so let\u2019s take a closer look at some of the highlights:<\/p>\n

Race 7, $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Fleur de Lis Stakes<\/a>, 1 1\/8 miles, dirt, \u00a03:52 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 1 1\/8-mile Fleur de Lis Stakes is a Breeders\u2019 Cup Challenge Series race that offers the winner an expenses-paid entry into the Longines Breeders\u2019 Cup Distaff<\/a> Nov. 1 at Del Mar. #3<\/strong> Thorpedo Anna<\/a><\/strong> is the headliner in a five-horse field that also includes the top-two finishers from the Shawnee Stakes<\/a> May 31 at Churchill Downs, #1 Royal Spa<\/a><\/strong> and #4 Gin Gin<\/a><\/strong>. Thorpedo Anna opened her year with back-to-back stakes wins at Oaklawn Park<\/a> but finished a disappointing seventh in the Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes<\/a> on the Longines Kentucky Oaks undercard May 2. All eyes will be on last year\u2019s Oaks and Distaff winner to see if she will regain her elite form.<\/p>\n

Race 8, $250,000 Tepin Stakes, one mile, turf, 4:25 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

Multiple stakes winner #6 Vixen<\/a><\/strong> leads a field of eight 3-year-old fillies entered for the one-mile Tepin Stakes, named for the 2022 Hall of Fame inductee who won the 2015 Breeders\u2019 Cup Mile and 2016 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot among six Grade\/Group 1 wins. Four of the eight fillies enter off of wins, while #5 Lush Lips<\/a><\/strong> comes into the race after back-to-back seconds to rising star Nitrogen.<\/p>\n

Race 9, $250,000 Kelly\u2019s Landing Stakes<\/a>, 6 \u00bd furlongs, dirt, 4:58 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dirt sprinters take center stage for the Kelly\u2019s Landing Stakes with #3 Booth<\/a> <\/strong>riding a four-race stakes winning streak into the race for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen<\/a>. Don\u2019t sleep on California shipper #1 Dr. Venkman<\/a><\/strong>, a blazing-fast graded stakes winner by Ghostzapper<\/a> with one of the great names in the sport. You can be sure Dr. Venkman will have his proton pack targeting front-running Booth in the Churchill stretch. Somebody call Bill Murray \u2026<\/p>\n

Race 10, $500,000 Wise Dan Stakes<\/a>, 1 1\/16 miles, turf, 5:31 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

This race honoring 2012 and 2013 Horse of the Year and fan favorite Wise Dan drew a field of nine led by the top four finishers of the Arlington Stakes<\/a> May 31 at the same course and 1 1\/16-mile distance: #4 Mercante<\/a><\/strong>, #7 Brilliant Berti<\/a><\/strong>, #2 Lagynos<\/a><\/strong>, and #6 Event Detail<\/a><\/strong>. That quartet was separated by 1 \u00bc lengths at the Arlington Stakes finish line and also must face the late rush of #8 Fort Washington<\/a><\/strong>, winner of the Dinner Party Stakes by a length on the Preakness Stakes undercard, and talented Southern California invader #3 Mi Hermano Ramon<\/a><\/b>.<\/p>\n

Race 11, $1 million <\/strong>Stephen Foster Stakes<\/strong><\/a>, 1 1\/8 miles, dirt, 6:03 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It hasn\u2019t happened in 33 years by my research that the Kentucky Derby top-two finishers faced off in a rematch as 4-year-olds, so there will be a little bit of history made Saturday night at Churchill should both #5 Mystik Dan<\/a><\/strong> and #4 Sierra Leone<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>start as expected. But this \u201cWin and You\u2019re In\u201d race for the Longines Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic<\/a> race isn\u2019t just last year\u2019s Derby winner versus the runner-up (and subsequent champion 3-year-old male). The Stephen Foster also drew 2025 Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline<\/a> winner #6 Hit Show<\/a><\/strong> and recent Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford<\/a> winner #2 Mindframe<\/a><\/strong>. It\u2019s simply a terrific horse race. Read all about this year\u2019s field in America\u2019s Best Racing\u2019s Stephen Foster Cheat Sheet<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Race 12, $250,000 American Derby, 1 1\/16 miles, turf, 6:32 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American Derby looks like one of the best handicapping puzzles on the Stephen Foster card with 10 3-year-olds entered, including Kentucky Derby runners #2 Flying Mohawk<\/a><\/strong> and #3 Tiztastic<\/a><\/strong> making the switch from dirt to turf, multiple Southern California stakes winner #8 Freedom\u2019s Not Free<\/strong> shipping in, and three additional stakes winners in a deep field to close out the June 28 card at Churchill Downs. World Series champion Jayson Werth is a co-owner of Flying Mohawk, who has two wins on the grass. Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby<\/a> winner Tiztastic also will return to turf, a surface on which he is 2-for-2 with a stakes win.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three weeks after the conclusion of the 2025 Triple Crown, horse racing\u2019s second half shifts into gear with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-211547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114740775184624292","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}