Backyard Heaven faces Derby alumni in Stephen Foster

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Vivid reminders of the Kentucky Derby are never far away at Churchill Downs. Even with older horses being featured Saturday night in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap, there will be an unmistakable Derby theme to the proceedings.

Justify, the 2018 Derby winner and newly minted Triple Crown champion, will be feted on a very busy evening by what is sure to be an appreciative Downs After Dark crowd. And when the $500,000 Foster rolls around as the eighth of 11 races, three of its nine starters will be Derby alumni, all from the 2017 running: Lookin At Lee (second), Irish War Cry (10th), and Patch (14th).

The 121-pound highweight and likely favorite in the Stephen Foster, Backyard Heaven, never came close to competing in the Derby, but he does share a common trait with Justify. The 4-year-old colt has come a long way in a minimal number of races. He easily won the Grade 2 Alysheba here May 4 in just his fourth career start and has consistently earned big Beyer Speed Figures to put himself on the threshold of becoming a major player in the North American handicap division.

“His potential is unlimited,” said Ken Ramsey, who campaigns Backyard Heaven with his wife, Sarah, under their familiar red-and-white silks. “I think he could be the best horse we’ve had since Kitten’s Joy,” the turf champion of 2004. “He’s definitely got a bright future, and we’re very excited about him.”

Based in New York with trainer Chad Brown, Backyard Heaven will break from post 6 under Irad Ortiz Jr. in the 1 1/8-mile Stephen Foster, which will be run under the lights on a card that starts at 6 p.m. Eastern. The Foster (9:39) is a Win and You’re In event toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which will be run here Nov. 3. The Foster will be shown live on a 90-minute telecast on the NBC Sports Network beginning at 8;30.

The broadcast will include highlights of ceremonies that will celebrate the remarkable feats of Justify and his Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert. Before and after the third race (6:56), Justify will be led over from his Barn 33 stall to appear on the racetrack, in the paddock, and in the winner’s circle, where Baffert and the other connections of Justify, including jockey Mike Smith and the principals from co-owner WinStar Farm, will be presented with their engraved trophies from the May 5 Derby.

A similar celebration was held three years ago on Foster night before a crowd of 28,968 after American Pharoah, also trained by Baffert, became the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years.

Baffert does not have a starter in the Foster, but he and Smith will team with the heavily favored Ax Man in the first of five straight graded stakes on the card, the Grade 3 Matt Winn (race 5, 7:57). The Winn will be followed by the Grade 2 Wise Dan (race 6, 8:30), the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis (race 7, 9:05), the Foster, and the Grade 3 Regret (race 9, 10:11).

Not only are all five stakes linked together in a pick-five wager, but they’re also included in a partial Single 6 force-out which will span races 4-9. Churchill officials have opted to divert a mandatory $250,000 payout from a jackpot that stood at $450,840 when a four-day week began here Thursday evening, a tactic that worked well for the June 2 Downs After Dark card, when a $300,000 partial force-out of the Single 6 resulted in more than $1.3 million in new wagers.

As for the Foster, Backyard Heaven enters off a series of workouts at Belmont Park that serve as a stark reminder that his physical problems are just a memory.

“He had a few niggling things that kept us from making the big 3-year-old races with him,” said Ramsey, “and then Chad had to stop on him a couple of different times because of sinus infections. But everything’s straightened away, and we’re looking to run him next in the Whitney at Saratoga and hopefully meeting up with Justify in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

Like Backyard Heaven, Irish War Cry (post 8, 119, Jose Ortiz) enters off a dominant score, having romped by 4 1/2 lengths in the May 18 Pimlico Special for trainer Graham Motion.

“It was definitely a relief to see him run well last time out,” said Motion. “It looks to be a pretty tough race, but he’s proven to us he belongs.”

Other considerations in this 37th running of the Foster include Honorable Duty (post 1, 118, Corey Lanerie), the 2017 Foster runner-up behind the eventual Horse of the Year Gun Runner; Lookin At Lee (post 7, 115, Ricardo Santana Jr.), whose allowance victory on the 2018 Derby card gave Steve Asmussen his 8,000th training victory; and the uncoupled Todd Pletcher duo of Patch (post 2, 116, Luis Saez) and Uncle Mojo (post 4, 114, John Velazquez).

Rounding out the lineup are Pavel (post 9), in from California for Doug O’Neill, and a pair of 8-year-old geldings, Hawaakom (post 3) and Matrooh (post 5).

The daytime forecast for Saturday calls for a high of 95 and no chance of rain. General admission is $10.