On Saturday, July 1, the first domestic “Win and You’re In” qualifying race for this fall’s $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic will be held in Kentucky. The $1 million, Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, which means that Saturday’s winner will receive an automatic berth to the Nov. 4 Longines Classic at Santa Anita Park with entry fees waived.

The Stephen Foster Stakes is normally one of the annual highlights of Churchill Downs’ spring-summer meet, but this year the 42^nd edition of the race will be run at Ellis Park in western Kentucky instead of under the Twin Spires in Louisville.

Held at 1 1/8 miles on the main dirt track, the Stephen Foster been won by such notable horses as Black Tie Affair (1991), Awesome Again (1998), Victory Gallop (1999), Perfect Drift (2003), Saint Liam (2005), Curlin (2008), Blame (2010), Fort Larned (2013), Gun Runner (2017), and Maxfield (2021). Black Tie Affair, Awesome Again, Saint Liam, Blame, and Gun Runner all followed up their wins in the Stephen Foster with wins in the Breeders’ Cup Classic later in the year. Olympiad won the 2022 Stephen Foster by 2 ¼ lengths and three starts later concluded his racing career with a runner-up finish in the Longines Classic at Keeneland behind Horse of the Year Flightline.

This year’s Stephen Foster drew a well-matched eight-horse field, featuring seven graded stakes winners. The race has a scheduled post time of 5:26 p.m. ET and will be televised on FanDuel TV.

Read on for information about the 2023 Stephen Foster Stakes field:

Eclipse Sportswire

1. Proxy (4-1 morning-line odds)

Jockey: Joel Rosario

Trainer: Mike Stidham

Owner: Godolphin

Career record: 16 starts – 5 wins – 6 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $1,775,970

Earnings per start: $110,998

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 113

Pedigree: Tapit – Panty Raid, by Include

Age: 5

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This Godolphin homebred with a flashy pedigree (his dam is Grade 1 winner Panty Raid) has been well regarded since he emerged on the road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve in 2021. He has been very consistent throughout his career in putting in a late run to reach contention in midstretch or later, and as such his win chances have been, and continue to be, very dependent on a fast early pace. Over the past year, Proxy’s been at his best, finishing third in the 2022 Stephen Foster, capturing an elusive Grade 1 win last fall in the Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare, and then nearly getting another one this March when he rallied strongly but finished a neck behind Stilleto Boy in the Santa Anita Handicap Presented by Yaamava’ Resort & Casino. One start after that, he surged through the stretch once again and edged Last Samurai by a head in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, with Stiletto Boy a very close third. Proxy earned a career-best 113 Equibase Speed Figure in that win, and he’ll aim to repeat that number at least in a tough assignment Saturday. Look for Joel Rosario to settle Proxy near the back of the field — but not too far out of it — and save some ground as long as possible before wheeling him out in the stretch for his patented late charge. It will help his cause immensely if there’s a pace duel up front between West Will Power, Speed Bias, and Stilleto Boy. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Godolphin has twice won the Stephen Foster with homebreds: Street Cry in 2002 and Maxfield in 2021.

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2. Stilleto Boy (6-1)

Jockey: Kent Desormeaux

Trainer: Ed Moger Jr.

Owner: Steve Moger

Career record: 22 starts – 4 wins – 4 seconds – 9 thirds

Career earnings: $1,807,175

Earnings per start: $82,144

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 113

Pedigree: Shackleford – Rosie’s Ransom, by Marquetry

Age: 5

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Press the pace/stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: After picking up big paychecks with in-the-money finishes in graded stakes during 2021-’22, this hard-trying, throwback gelding has reached his career-best form at age 5 in 2023. Stilleto Boy started off the season with a game third-place effort in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Baccarat in which he set the early pace and held on well into the stretch, and then returned to his California base and broke through with a gritty Grade 1 win in the Santa Anita Handicap Presented by Yaamava’ Resort & Casino, a race in which he rallied from a stalking position to edge deep closer Proxy by a head. Following that, Stilleto Boy went on the road again for a start in the Oaklawn Handicap in April, reverted to pace-setting tactics once more, and nearly won the race, yielding to Proxy and Last Samurai in the closing strides to finish a head behind in third. He’s since been training steadily for Ed Moger on the synthetic track at Golden Gate Fields and Kent Desormeaux, who rode Stilleto Boy five times in 2021 and has been back aboard for his two recent and career-best starts, will come to Ellis Park for the Stephen Foster. Look for Desormeaux to be aggressive with Stilleto Boy Saturday and put some pressure on projected front-runners West Will Power and Speed Bias as the field makes its way through the opening half-mile. The Hall of Fame jockey won the 2000 Foster aboard Golden Missile.

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3. Speed Bias (12-1)

Jockey: Luis Saez

Trainer: Ron Moquett

Owners: Keith Johnston and William Sparks

Career record: 9 starts – 2 wins – 4 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $250,965

Earnings per start: $27,885

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 107

Pedigree: Uncle Mo – Hot Summer, by Malibu Moon

Age: 4

Color: Bay

Running style: Pacesetter/Press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Speed Bias is the only horse entered in Saturday’s Stephen Foster without a stakes win – nevertheless, he’s got an outside chance at pulling the upset and will be a good value horse to use in exotic bets such as the exacta and trifecta. He’s elevated his game this spring at age 4, romping in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Oaklawn Park back in January and then finishing second in two other allowances at the Arkansas track, one of those to Smile Happy. Once the Oaklawn meet ended, trainer Ron Moquett entered the Uncle Mo colt in the Grade 3 Pimlico Special Stakes Presented by Bulleit Bourbon in mid-May, and Speed Bias nearly held off 11-10 favorite Rattle N Roll at Pimlico, losing by a nose. Speed Bias set the pace in the Pimlico Special and will should be prominent early in the Foster as well. Jockey Luis Saez has been aboard this appropriately-named horse for his last two starts, and the New York-based rider has made the most of his summer in Kentucky, displaying his usual expert ability in handling speed horses on Ellis’ main track. Was his eye-catching effort against Rattle N Roll a one-off, or the start of something bigger? We’ll find out Saturday as Speed Bias attempts to give Moquett his second Foster victory. The trainer scored in 2006 with 91.70-1 bomb Seek Gold.

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4. Rattle N Roll (4-1)

Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.

Trainer: Ken McPeek

Owner: Lucky Seven Stable

Career record: 18 starts – 8 wins – 1 second – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $1,501,141

Earnings per start: $83,397

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 107

Pedigree: Connect – Jazz Tune, by Johannesburg

Age: 4

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Rattle N Roll has developed into one of the top older dirt horses in training this spring and comes into the Stephen Foster on a three-race win streak, all of them stakes races held at 1 1/8 miles or longer. It took a while, but the Connect colt has delivered on the early potential he flashed when winning the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity as a 2-year-old back in 2021 and then again when tallying three stakes victories last summer. Each of his three recent wins has come in similar, professional, fashion: he’s raced off of the early pace, moved up on cue from regular jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., and then gamely forged ahead in the stretch. Two starts back, he outdueled Speed Bias in the Pimlico Special Stakes Presented by Bulleit Bourbon to win by a nose, and subsequently he powered clear to win the Blame Stakes, the local prep for the Stephen Foster, by 1 ¼ lengths in early June. His résumé is certainly impressive, but look closer and you’ll see that aside from the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity a year and a half ago, Rattle N Roll’s stakes wins have all come at the Grade 3 level or lower – and on top of that, in terms of career-best speed figures he actually ranks closer to the bottom of the Stephen Foster field than the top. Rattle N Roll is a must-use horse for exacta and trifecta tickets on Saturday but may be overbet in the win pool. Hernandez won the 2013 Stephen Foster aboard Fort Larned, seven months after piloting that horse to a Breeders’ Cup Classic victory.

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5. Smile Happy (3-1)

Jockey: Corey Lanerie

Trainer: Ken McPeek

Owner: Lucky Seven Stable

Career record: 8 starts – 4 wins – 2 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $1,019,890

Earnings per start: $127,486

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 117

Pedigree: Runhappy – Pleasant Smile, by Pleasant Tap

Age: 4

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Like his stablemate Rattle N Roll, Smile Happy is coming into his own as a 4-year-old in 2023 and rewarding those who have backed him ever since he won the 2021 Kentucky Jockey Club stakes in only his second career start. He’s 2-for-3 this year, winning an allowance race at Oaklawn Park with ease back in March, finishing third in the Oaklawn Mile Stakes, and then unleashing a career-best effort on the Longines Kentucky Oaks undercard at Churchill Downs in May when he dominated a stellar field by two lengths in the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet. Smile Happy earned a 117 Equibase Speed Figure in the Alysheba, and if he can repeat or improve that number in the Stephen Foster he has a good chance to pick up his first Grade 1 win. Brian Hernandez Jr., who rode Smile Happy in the Alysheba, takes the mount on Rattle N Roll Saturday, but this colt should respond positively when reunited with Corey Lanerie, who was aboard for his Kentucky Jockey Club win and two runner-up finishes in Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve prep races during spring 2022. His stalking running style is well-suited to the pace scenario for this year’s Foster, and he should be angling out and making a bid for the lead when the field turns for home at Ellis Saturday afternoon. 

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6. West Will Power (7-2)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owners: Gary and Mary West

Career record: 16 starts – 6 wins – 7 seconds – 1 third

Career earnings: $1,146,130

Earnings per start: $71,633

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 117

Pedigree: Bernardini – Wild Promises, by Wild Event

Age: 6

Color: Bay

Running style: Pacesetter/press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: West Will Power is a definite win candidate in the 2023 Stephen Foster, and chances are good that he’ll either be in front when the field moves into the backstretch at Ellis or be within a length of the lead. He has won three of seven starts using pacesetting or pressing tactics since Brad Cox took over training duties, including a gate-to-wire score in the Hagyard Fayette Stakes last fall where he earned a 114 Equibase Speed Figure and a pace-pressing win in the New Orleans Classic Stakes Presented by Relyne GI by Hagyard back in March when he tallied a 115 figure. In addition to those wins, he finished second by three-quarters of a length to Proxy last November in the Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare, yielding in deep stretch after setting moderate fractions, and in his most recent start gave up the early lead to check in third behind Smile Happy and Art Collector in the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet. West Will Power could find himself in front early once again in the Foster, as one of his two his main speed threats, Speed Bias, is far less experienced at the graded stakes level, and the other rival, Stilleto Boy, has posted recent speed figures that are a tick lower. Jockey Flavien Prat made his first-ever visit to Ellis Park last Saturday. He’s been aboard West Will Power for his two most recent starts – the New Orleans and the Alysheba – and is good at nursing front-runners on the lead. This 6-year-old son of Bernardini is very fast and is a threat to wire the field if he gets loose on the lead – and even if he gets pressured and can’t close the deal, he’s shown enough courage to hang around late and finish in the money.

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7. Last Samurai (6-1)

Jockey: Cristian Torres

Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

Owner: Willis Horton Racing

Career record: 26 starts – 6 wins – 5 seconds – 4 thirds

Career earnings: $2,128,964

Earnings per start: $81,883

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 119

Pedigree: Malibu Moon – Lady Samuri, by First Samurai

Age: 5

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Like several of his Stephen Foster opponents, Last Samurai enters Saturday’s race in fine form. He’s 2-for-5 so far during his 5-year-old campaign, winning the Razorback Handicap and the Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park during that track’s winter-spring meet. Perhaps his best effort came in the race following those two wins, as he battled gamely in the stretch while being brushed by Stilleto Boy and still bested that foe while finishing second by a head to late-running Proxy in the Oaklawn Handicap in late April. In his subsequent start, Last Samurai finished a distant fourth in the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet, 11 lengths behind winner Smile Happy. He’ll need a big bounce-back effort in order to pull the upset in the Stephen Foster, but it’s not impossible. Last Samurai’s career-best Equibase Speed Figure of 119 – earned in the Razorback – tops the Foster field. Plus, his aforementioned three stellar efforts at Oaklawn earlier this year all came with Cristian Torres in the saddle, and the talented young rider gets back aboard Saturday. At the very least, Last Samurai has appeal in exacta, trifecta, and superfecta bets in the Foster, and his odds should be enticing indeed. Legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the Stephen Foster way back in 1987 with Red Attack.

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8. Happy American (20-1)

Jockey: James Graham

Trainer: Neil Pessin

Owner: Lothenbach Stables

Career record: 20 starts – 5 wins – 1 second – 4 thirds

Career earnings: $486,401

Earnings per start: $24,320

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 107

Pedigree: Runhappy – Queen of America, by Quiet American

Age: 5

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Happy American will be a longshot in the Stephen Foster when the starting gate opens Saturday at Ellis Park, but that’s more reflective of the quality of this year’s field than of his own accomplishments. The 5-year-old son of champion sprinter Runhappy has finished in the money nine times in 20 career starts and enjoyed a fine winter season in 2022-’23 as he captured back-to-back stakes wins at Fair Grounds in December and January. In his four most recent starts, he’s finished eighth, fifth, fourth, and third competing against several of the horses he’ll face again in the Foster. He comes into the race off of a late-running third behind Rattle N Roll in the Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs in early June, where trailed a moderate early pace and finished with energy. He’ll be coming from well back again Saturday, possibly from last during the early stages, and would need to improve his Equibase Speed Figures by about 10 points to pull the upset under regular rider James Graham. Filling out the trifecta or superfecta is a far more likely scenario.