The Stephen Foster rematch June 27 between Sovereignty and his Oaklawn Handicap vanquisher White Abarrio held huge appeal on its own, and now Dubai World Cup winner Magnitude appears poised to join the fray. Magnitude, on May 9, worked a half-mile in 51.20 seconds, the easiest of breezes but meaningful as it was the colt’s first published drill since he beat Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Forever Young in the Dubai World Cup on March 28. Magnitude shipped extremely well to Dubai, trained with aplomb there, ran the best race of his career, and returned to Steve Asmussen at Churchill Downs as well as his trainer could have hoped. “He’s training beautifully. Couldn’t be more excited about what he’s gotten done so far this year, and what we hope he can do the rest of the year,” Asmussen said. “With him training at Churchill, the Stephen Foster is most likely his next start.” Magnitude has won three races in a row, the Clark last fall at Churchill and the Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn preceding the Dubai World Cup, but it was his second-place finish in the Pennsylvania Derby in September that marked the start of Magnitude’s rise toward becoming an elite older horse. Asmussen said he could see the horse had made a leap while Magnitude trained over the winter in New Orleans, and said he’s seeing more of the same. Magnitude’s career has eerily paralleled that of Gun Runner, who campaigned for Asmussen and Winchell Thoroughbreds. Gun Runner finished second in the Pennsylvania Derby and won the Clark during the second half of his 3-year-old campaign, and won the Razorback and was second in the World Cup starting his 4-year-old season in 2017. Gun Runner won the Stephen Foster in his first start after Dubai, then captured the Whitney and the Woodward before landing the Breeders’ Cup Classic in a Horse of the Year campaign. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Asmussen would like Magnitude to follow a similar path, but there will be no Woodward this year. The next New York Grade 1 races for older dirt-route horses are the Whitney on Aug. 8 at Saratoga, and the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 18 at Belmont. On a somewhat lower plane, Tiztastic, the 4-year-old Winchell-owned colt trained by Asmussen, captured a third-level, dirt-route allowance Saturday at Churchill, his first victory since the Louisiana Derby in March 2025. “He beat a solid field, and he looked like the Louisiana Derby winner again,” Asmussen said. “He’s a big, beautiful, rangy horse who obviously will be back in stakes company soon, but I want him feeling as good as he was into this race.” Sharp looks to stay hot The trainer Joe Sharp had a busy and productive four-day run last week at Churchill, compiling a 15-5-3-2 record. Sharp’s whole season has gone that way. Off a 95-win 2024, Sharp won a career-best 147 races during 2025, and through last weekend was on track to top 200 winners during 2026. Sharp has runners in four of Thursday’s eight races, including Presider, who goes in the featured fifth race, a second-level turf allowance carded over 1 3/8 miles and open to $80,000 claimers. Presider, who campaigns for Carl Moore Management, starts for the $80,000 tag and figures to head straight for the lead in the three-turn contest. Those were the tactics employed when Presider won a nine-furlong Churchill turf race in November, and in a second-place finish going 1 1/2 miles Jan. 4 in the John Connally Turf Cup. Presider, in the Elkhorn last month at Keeneland, was eased while racing without Lasix, which he gets for Thursday’s start. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.