SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Mindframe, who may have vaulted to the head of a deep older male dirt class with his victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, arrived back in Saratoga on Monday morning and will be strongly considered for a start in the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney Stakes here Aug. 2, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday. An appearance in the Whitney would not only mean an expected rematch with Stephen Foster runner-up and the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, but Mindframe also could square off for the first time against his Mike Repole-owned, Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Fierceness in the 1 1/8-mile race. “That’s a possibility we have to look at,” Pletcher said Monday at Saratoga. “Obviously, it’s not ideal running them against each other, but you have to manage each one in their own best interests. We’ll see what the next couple of weeks look like and how they both train.” Mindframe improved his 2025 record to 3 for 3 with his one-length victory over Sierra Leone in the Stephen Foster. On May 3, Mindframe won the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes going seven furlongs. On March 1, Mindframe won the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. At 3, Mindframe won his first two starts before finishing second to Dornoch in both the Belmont Stakes and Haskell. In the Belmont, Mindframe veered out from being hit left-handed by Irad Ortiz Jr. In the Haskell, Mindframe was kept several paths away from Dornoch by Ortiz, a strategy Pletcher said may have backfired. Regardless, Mindframe seems to have grown up as a 4-year-old. “All of his races this year have been pretty professional,” Pletcher said. At 3, Mindframe and Fierceness never met. Fierceness won the Jim Dandy and Travers here, while Mindframe was starting his vacation following the Haskell. Fierceness, second to Sierra Leone in the Classic, won the Alysheba Stakes at Churchill on May 2 before finishing second to Raging Torrent in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap. “It was kind of a hard race to hold against him because he had to fight for position early, bounced, and running on that kind of [sealed] track, it’s hard to say,” said Pletcher, who was hoping to work Fierceness later this week. Meanwhile, Sierra Leone has returned to Saratoga, and trainer Chad Brown is planning on pointing him to the Whitney. Brown felt Sierra Leone was hampered by a slow start and a lack of pace in the Foster. “He wasn’t quite standing right and he broke a little slow,” Brown said. “I just wish there was a little more pace signed on. But I thought it was a very strong effort. The winner ran a super race. He’s a top, top horse. I don’t necessarily have an excuse for the race. I was disappointed in the outcome, but everything else about his performance I was happy with.” Trainer Brad Cox said it is doubtful that Stephen Foster third-place finisher First Mission would come to Saratoga for the Whitney, though plans are not yet firmed up for his next start. Cox said Highland Falls, last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup winner who came off a lengthy layoff to win a one-mile allowance at Aqueduct last week, would come to Saratoga, though no race has yet been selected. Mystik Dan, the 2024 Kentucky Derby winner who finished fourth in the Stephen Foster, is heading to Saratoga in early July, but trainer Kenny McPeek said Monday that he likely won’t run until the end of August or early September. ◗ Friday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban Stakes for older males at Saratoga is led by the Pletcher-trained Locked, who won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap before finishing fourth behind Fierceness in the Alysheba. Pletcher also entered Antiquarian in the Suburban, with that horse coming off a runner-up finish to Mystik Dan in the Grade 3 Blame on May 31 at Churchill. Awesome Aaron and Phileas Fogg, the one-two finishers from the Pimlico Special, were entered in the Suburban, as were Disarm, Bendoog, San Siro, and Honor Marie. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.