Thrilling matchups in Stephen Foster and Fleur de Lis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bret Calhoun harbors a certain empathy for absent racing fans that will be amplified this weekend amid the sounds of silence at Churchill Downs.

“These are the races they come out to see,” said Calhoun, referring to Saturday showdowns in the Stephen Foster and Fleur de Lis. “It’s a shame we won’t have the fans here to enjoy them.”

Calhoun will send out By My Standards and Silver Dust against Tom’s d’Etat in a riveting renewal of the $500,000 Stephen Foster some 30 minutes after Midnight Bisou and Serengeti Empress lock horns in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis. Both Grade 2 races will be run at 1 1/8 miles as Win and You’re In events toward their respective divisions at the Nov. 6-7 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.

Churchill, as with most tracks during the coronavirus crisis, has run spectator-free since the spring meet began May 16. With the Kentucky Oaks and Derby delayed until Sept. 4-5, the Foster and Fleur de Lis effectively serve as the apex of a 27-day meet that ends Sunday.

Tom’s d’Etat will be favored in the Foster, with By My Standards the second choice in a field of eight older horses. It’s their first-ever meeting.

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“It’s a great race on a great card,” said Calhoun, who has won more than 3,100 races in his 26-year training career. “I’m a big fan myself, so it’s going to be interesting to see these matchups. Tom’s d’Etat has been such a great horse – so consistent and with such high numbers. He deserves all the respect he’s been getting.

“That being said, I can’t say I’d trade places with anybody. Our horse is doing very, very well. We thought he’d improve with age, and he has. I think he’s sitting on another great race. I’m not saying he’ll win it, but I think he has a huge chance in there.”

By My Standards, owned by the Allied Racing Stable of Chester Thomas, will have Gabriel Saez aboard when breaking from post 6. Just to his inside in post 5 will be Tom’s d’Etat, who will have Miguel Mena substituting for regular rider Joel Rosario.

Mena, who rides frequently for trainer Al Stall Jr., got the mount “right after the Belmont Park stakes schedule came out,” Stall said. Rosario’s agent, Ron Anderson, “recognized right away that he was going to need to stay in New York to ride Uni in the Just a Game. And that’s fine. That’s just the way it all works sometimes.”

By My Standards, winner of the Louisiana Derby last year at 3, has won all three starts this year as a 4-year-old. His last race resulted in a 1 3/4-length score in the May 2 Oaklawn Handicap over Warrior’s Charge and Mr Freeze and yielded a career-high 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Tom’s d’Etat, owned by the GMB Racing of Gayle Benson, has won four of his last five starts and has racked up seven straight triple-digit Beyers. The 7-year-old horse won his lone start this year, the April 11 Oaklawn Mile.

Besides Tom’s d’Etat and the Calhoun duo, the Foster field includes Fearless, Pirate’s Punch, Alkhaatam, Multiplier, and Owendale.

Midnight Bisou, the No. 1-rated horse in the weekly National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll, will be heavily favored over the speedy Serengeti Empress in the Fleur de Lis. The rest of the lineup is Go Google Yourself, Another Broad, Chocolate Kisses, Red Dane, and Motion Emotion.

Both races will be televised live on a one-hour NBC Sports broadcast that starts at 5 p.m. Eastern. The Fleur de Lis is race 9 (5:18 p.m.) and the Foster is race 10 (5:50) on an 11-race card that starts at 1 p.m. Two other Grade 3 stakes, the Bashford Manor (race 8, 4:46) for 2-year-olds and the Regret (race 11, 6:22) for 3-year-old turf fillies, will bookend an all-stakes pick four.