Grade 2 Stephen Foster features Grade 1 field

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It’s almost like Stephen Foster threw a flag from his grave.

The race named in honor of the legendary songwriter took a hit over the winter when it was downgraded from a Grade 1 to a Grade 2, but a half-dozen of the best older horses in training – and then some – have surfaced to contest the 38th running of the $600,000 Foster at Churchill Downs on Saturday. The 1 1/8-mile race is set for 9:47 p.m. Eastern as the eighth of 11 races on a Downs After Dark card that starts at 6.

Gift Box, Tenfold, Yoshida, Seeking the Soul, Quip, and Tom’s d’Etat form a core of favorites in a 12-horse field that would be the envy of many a Grade 1 race on this continent. Run as a handicap since its 1982 inaugural, the Foster will be run for the first time under allowance conditions, with weights ranging from 125 pounds (Gift Box) to 123 (Quip) to 121 for all the rest.

The Foster is a Win and You’re In event toward the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Classic and will be the focus of a 90-minute broadcast (8:30-10) hosted by Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey on NBCSN. Another Win and You’re In race, the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis, will directly precede the Foster as race 7 (9:12) and also will be featured on the show. TVG will have full coverage of the card, with Caton Bredar and Gabby Gaudet hosting.

Gift Box, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap in March in a ferocious duel with the highly regarded McKinzie, arrived here Tuesday in good stead from his Southern California base. The 6-year-old horse is owned by Hronis Racing, trained by John Sadler, and will break from post 6 with Joel Rosario aboard. That’s the same trio who teamed to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic here last fall with Accelerate.

“You don’t want to get ahead of yourself, but yes, the Win and You’re In was a good reason for flying him back east,” said Sadler. “The horse is very sharp, training very well.”

Tenfold, winner of the May 17 Pimlico Special last out in what trainer Steve Asmussen described as “a breakthrough performance,” will have Ricardo Santana Jr. back aboard when they leave from post 7.

“We always believed he had the talent to compete at this level,” said Asmussen, whose two Foster winners, Curlin (2008) and Gun Runner (2017), both earned Horse of the Year honors in those years.

Yoshida (post 12, Jose Ortiz), a Grade 1 winner on turf and dirt, will make his first start since finishing sixth in the March 30 Dubai World Cup. “He actually bounced back very well and seems fine,” said trainer Bill Mott.

Seeking the Soul (post 4, John Velazquez), based at Churchill for much of a career in which he has earned nearly $3 million for owner-breeder Charles Fipke and trainer Dallas Stewart, has finished third or better in nine of his 11 local starts, including a victory in the Grade 1 Clark in 2017.

Quip (post 10, Florent Geroux) emerged the winner in a blanket finish in his most recent start in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap in April. “I think he can really make a name for himself in the older-horse division this year,” said trainer Rudy Brisset.

Tom’s d’Etat (post 9, Shaun Bridgmohan) gave closest chase to McKinzie in an outstanding renewal of the Alysheba here six weeks ago and can be expected among the early leaders Saturday night, said trainer Al Stall Jr.

“He leaves out of there pretty well,” said Stall. “This is a tough bunch of horses, but I really think we fit. Hopefully, we’ll get the right trip.”

The balance of the Foster lineup is Thirstforlife, Rated R Superstar, Runaway Ghost, Alkhaatam, King Zachary, and Exulting.

Besides the Foster and Fleur de Lis, the 51st Downs After Dark card will offer three other graded stakes – the Grade 2 Matt Winn (race 5), Grade 2 Wise Dan (race 6), and Grade 3 Regret (race 9). The stakes are linked together in a 50-cent pick-five wager (races 5-9) and the 20-cent Single 6 (races 4-9).

Following the Regret is the $100,000 President of the United Arab Emirates Cup (race 10), a Grade 1 race for Arabians. The night’s finale, race 11, is the only claiming race on the card and is set for 11:16.

The traditional presentation of engraved Kentucky Derby trophies will be made after race 3 to the connections of 2019 winner Country House. Mott, his trainer, will be on hand, along with ownership partners Maury Shields, Guinness McFadden, and the Roth family of LNJ Foxwoods.

The forecast for Saturday calls for partly cloudy skies and a nighttime low of 72. General admission is $12.