The 2024 summer racing season kicks into high gear Saturday at historic Churchill Downs with the 43^rd running of the $1 million, Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes. The 1 1/8-mile Stephen Foster is the first stakes race in North America this year that is a “Win and You’re In” Challenge Series qualifier for the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

In addition to securing a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the connections of this year’s Foster winner will bankroll a purse north of $550,000 and add their horse’s name to a list of modern-day standout Thoroughbreds who’ve won the race named after the famous 19^th century composer, including Black Tie Affair (1991), Awesome Again (1998), Victory Gallop (1999), Street Cry (2002), Perfect Drift (2003), Saint Liam (2005), Curlin (2008), Blame (2010), Fort Larned (2013), Gun Runner (2017), and Olympiad (2022).  

The 2024 Stephen Foster Stakes drew a well-matched field of nine horses age 4 and older and will be televised live on FanDuel TV, with a scheduled post time of 6:03 p.m. ET. Get information on all of the Foster contenders plus handicapping insights below in ABR’s Cheat Sheet.

Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club

1. Pyrenees (12-1 morning-line odds)

Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.

Trainer: Cherie DeVaux

Owner: Blue Heaven Farm

Career record: 8 starts – 4 wins – 1 second – 1 third

Career earnings: $321,716

Earnings per start: $40,215

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 103

Pedigree: Into Mischief – Our Khrysty, by Newfoundland

Age: 4

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This son of top sire Into Mischief is on a promising career trajectory as he takes another step up in class in the Foster. Pyrenees only raced once at age 3 in 2023, coming back from an 11 ½-month layoff in December to break his maiden decisively at Fair Grounds, and since then he’s won three races in a row this spring, a pair of allowance races, at Fair Grounds and Keeneland, and then a surging three-quarter-length score over odds-on favorite Kingsbarns in his stakes debut, the Grade 3 Pimlico Special Stakes May 17. His Equibase Speed Figure pattern is ascending, topped by a 103 in the Pimlico Special, and he’ll need to improve once again by about 10 points or so to have a shot at pulling off the upset in the Foster against his eight opponents, each of whom has more graded stakes experience. It’s not out of the question, though: trainer Cherie DeVaux is having an outstanding spring-summer meet at Churchill, and Brian Hernandez Jr.’s recent accomplishments as this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve- and Longines Kentucky Oaks-winning jockey speak for themselves. Hernandez has been aboard Pyrenees for all four of his wins since his late 2023 return to racing. Look for him to settle Pyrenees just behind the early speed and to save as much ground as possible through both turns before giving the colt his cue, similar to his ride on Mystik Dan in Kentucky Derby 150. Hernandez won the 2013 Foster on Fort Larned.

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2. First Mission (6-5)

Jockey: Florent Geroux

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owner: Godolphin

Career record: 8 starts – 5 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $1,273,020

Earnings per start: $159,128

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 115

Pedigree: Street Sense – Elude, by Medaglia d’Oro

Age: 4

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: First Mission has a good chance at going off as the post-time favorite in this year’s Stephen Foster as he comes into the race off of arguably his two best performances in a fine eight-race career. After finishing a distant ninth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Baccarat back in January, the Godolphin homebred has reeled off two overpowering victories, taking the Grade 3 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park in March by five lengths and then the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes Presented by TwinSpires by four lengths May 3 at Churchill Downs. In both races, First Mission patiently stalked the pace under Florent Geroux before taking over in early stretch and coasting to victory, and he earned back-to-back Equibase Speed Figures of 115. Those numbers make him a leading win candidate in the Stephen Foster, and Geroux retains the mount on Saturday. This colt nearly won the Grade 2 Clark Stakes Presented by Norton Healthcare last November at Churchill, losing by a nose in the 1 1/8-mile race, and he’s been training well in recent weeks for Louisville native Brad Cox. First Mission has only had one poor start in his career – that puzzling effort in the Pegasus – and all signs point to a big effort as he vies for a first Grade 1 victory against a stronger field than he’s faced in his recent wins. Cox won last year’s Foster with West Will Power, owner-breeder Godolphin campaigned Foster winners Maxfield (2021) and Street Cry (2002), and Geroux won the 2017 Foster aboard the great Gun Runner.

Eclipse Sportswire

3. Happy American (30-1)

Jockey: Corey Lanerie

Trainer: Neil Pessin

Owner: Neil Pessin

Career record: 29 starts – 5 wins – 1 second – 8 thirds

Career earnings: $655,556

Earnings per start: $22,606

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 113

Pedigree: Runhappy – Queen of America, by Quiet American

Age: 6

Color: Bay

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This veteran 6-year-old rebounded from three consecutive desultory efforts in graded stakes – defeated by a total of 60 ¾ lengths – with a third-place finish in his most recent start, that coming in a May 31 allowance-optional claiming race going a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs. He’s a one-dimensional closer who, at his best, can grind up and fill out the trifecta in a graded stakes on occasion, even winning a Grade 3 event at Fair Grounds back in early 2023. In last year’s Foster held at Ellis Park, Happy American rallied from last of eight to pass tired runners in the stretch and check in a solid third, two lengths behind West Will Power, and he earned a career-best 113 Equibase Speed Figure against a field similar in quality to this year’s race. In general, Happy American has run well on Churchill’s dirt track, earning three of his five career victories and also finishing third three times. Finishing third or fourth on Saturday appears to the best-case scenario for the gelding, and look for jockey Corey Lanerie to settle him in last through the first mile or so before moving him up through the far turn in an attempt to secure a minor purse share – which, in the case of this million-dollar race, still amounts to a nice payday. Happy American is also entered in the one-mile Hanshin Stakes Presented by JRA, held on the June 30 closing-day card of Churchill’s spring-summer meet.

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4. Disarm (6-1)

Jockey: Joel Rosario

Trainer: Steve Asmussen

Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds

Career record: 10 starts – 3 wins – 3 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $1,077,120

Earnings per start: $107,712

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 107

Pedigree: Gun Runner – Easy Tap, by Tapit

Age: 4

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Stalker/closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred enters the Stephen Foster with seemingly untapped potential after a good but not great 3-year-old season and an encouraging first start as a 4-year-old. Disarm competed well against the best of his age group in 2023, finishing a solid fourth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, second to champion Arcangelo in the Travers Stakes, and second to Foster foe Kingsbarns in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby while also winning the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Ellis Park, a race that is normally held at Churchill Downs. After an 8 ½-month layoff, he returned May 18 in a 1 1/16-mile allowance-optional claiming race at Churchill and easily defeated three opponents, setting the pace and winning by 1 ½ lengths as the very heavy 0.14-1 odds favorite. Disarm normally prefers to settle off the pace and make a closing rally, but in his comeback effort against an overmatched field jockey Keith Asmussen put him on the early lead. Asmussen is now sidelined due to injury, and 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Joel Rosario is assigned for the Foster. Rosario rode Disarm in five out of seven starts last year, including the races mentioned above, and look for him to revert to the colt’s usual stalking style Saturday. His overall Equibase Speed Figures are a notch below several others in this field, but Disarm is eligible to move forward off of his 2024 debut and he may just be ready to fulfill expectations. If he does, he’s got a shot at pulling off the upset. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen has two Stephen Foster wins on his résumé, with Curlin in 2008 and Gun Runner in 2017. Winchell Thoroughbreds co-owned Gun Runner, the sire of Disarm. Gun Runner, like Curlin, took home Horse of the Year honors in his Foster-winning season.

Eclipse Sportswire

5. Dreamlike (10-1)

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owners: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable

Career record: 9 starts – 1 win – 4 seconds – 2 thirds

Career earnings: $457,625

Earnings per start: $50,847

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 113

Pedigree: Gun Runner – Time to Tap, by Tapit

Age: 4

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: This colt, bred on a similar cross (Gun Runner out of a Tapit mare) as Disarm, is a longshot contender in the 2024 Stephen Foster as his owners Mike Repole and Vincent Viola – no strangers to success at the sport’s highest level – continue to ambitiously test him against stakes company. Dreamlike competed in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino last year despite still being a maiden and nearly won, finishing third by a head. Then, after winning at Saratoga over the summer, he came up a half-length short to Saudi Crown in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby. In his two starts this year at age 4, Dreamlike has finished second by a neck as the odds-on favorite in a 1 1/16-mile allowance-optional claiming race at Keeneland and then third by three lengths in the Grade 3 Blame Stakes June 1 at Churchill, the 1 1/8-mile local prep for the Stephen Foster. Dreamlike’s best career Equibase Speed Figure of 113 came in the Pennsylvania Derby, which was held on a rain-drenched, sloppy track, and based on a mainly dry weather forecast he won’t get similar conditions Saturday in Louisville. On the positive side, he’s done his best running at a mile and an eighth and reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. retains the mount after riding Dreamlike in five of his last six starts, including both races this year. It will take a career-best effort from Dreamlike to topple this quality field, and overall he projects more as a horse to use in exacta and trifecta tickets. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who also saddles Kingsbarns in the Foster, will add blinkers on Dreamlike for this race.

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6. Classic Causeway (30-1)

Jockey: Julien Leparoux

Trainer: Ken McPeek

Owner: Old Kentucky Home

Career record: 22 starts – 4 wins – 3 seconds – 4 thirds

Career earnings: $1,507,986

Earnings per start: $68,545

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 112

Pedigree: Giant’s Causeway – Private World, by Thunder Gulch

Age: 5

Color: Chestnut

Running style: Pacesetter

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Classic Causeway projects to be part of the early pace in Saturday’s Stephen Foster as he attempts to scale heights he hasn’t reached since 2022. Back then, at age 3, he won both of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve prep races at Tampa Bay Downs and also pulled off a front-running upset in the Grade 1 Caesars Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes on turf – but this son of the late elite sire Giant’s Causeway has subsequently gone winless in 13 starts. He came close to ending that streak in his first start of 2024, setting the pace in the 1 ½-mile Temperence Hill Stakes at Oaklawn Park before yielding by a head at the finish, and since then he’s regressed, finishing fifth of eighth in a 1 ½-mile stakes on dirt at Churchill Downs and then fourth of seven in a 1 1/16-mile race washed off turf and held on dirt at the same track in late May. At his best, he’s good enough to be a factor in this competitive Grade 1 event, but as noted his best came nearly two years ago, and Classic Causeway truthfully hasn’t been the same since a trip last summer to England when he was soundly defeated in three group stakes held on turf. The one positive in his column is his ability to handle a route of ground as his Grade 1 win on turf back in 2023 came at 1 ¼ miles and he nearly held on in the mile-and-a-half Temperence Hill earlier this year. If he can regain that form in the Foster, Classic Causeway could hang around long enough to fill out the trifecta or superfecta at high odds for Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve- and Longines Kentucky Oaks-winning trainer Ken McPeek. Anything more than that would be a surprise.

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7. Kingsbarns (6-1)

Jockey: Luis Saez

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owner: Spendthrift Farm

Career record: 8 starts – 5 wins – 2 seconds – 0 thirds

Career earnings: $957,800

Earnings per start: $119,725

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 108

Pedigree: Uncle Mo – Lady Tapit, by Tapit

Age: 4

Color: Bay

Running style: Stalker

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Always highly regarded, Kingsbarns has matured into a leading contender in the older male division in 2024 with two wins in three starts. He’s yet to earn a breakthrough Grade 1 win, however, and perhaps Saturday is when he claims that prize against a high-caliber field. The Todd Pletcher trainee won last year’s Grade 2 Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby over Disarm and started 2024 with a pair of visually impressive victories, taking a seven-furlong allowance-optional claiming race with a late rush at Gulfstream Park and then the 1 3/16-mile, Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes at Keeneland in April by an easy 3 ¼ lengths. He was then sent off as the 7-10 favorite in the 1 3/16-mile, Grade 3 Pimlico Special Stakes May 17 and took the lead in the stretch, but he was outfinished by rising star Pyrenees in the late going and finished second by three-quarters of a length. A rematch is on the schedule Saturday, and Kingsbarns will also face seven other quality runners including the above-mentioned Disarm and stablemate Dreamlike. Still, he’s a good bet to be among the top three or four betting choices come post time, and deservedly so as he’s in consistent form and is still relatively lightly raced with potential yet to fulfill. Look for regular rider Luis Saez to have Kingsbarns among the top two or three runners early on and in a good position to compete with the other forwardly placed runners such as First Mission and Skippylongstocking when the field turns for home. 

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8. Steal Sunshine (20-1)

Jockey: Paco Lopez

Trainer: Bobby Dibona

Owners: Michael Iavarone, Jules Iavarone, Carrie Brogden, Kevin Pollard, Ed Gorry, and David Menard

Career record: 22 starts – 6 wins – 2 seconds – 6 thirds

Career earnings: $541,420

Earnings per start: $24,610

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 110

Pedigree: Constitution – Warm Sunshine, by Unbridled’s Song

Age: 5

Color: Dark bay or brown

Running style: Closer

Notable achievements and interesting facts: South Florida-based Steal Sunshine returns to Churchill Downs for his second consecutive start after finishing fourth by seven lengths to First Mission in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes Presented by TwinSpires May 3. He was a 12.88-1 longshot in that race and figures to go off at even higher odds in the Stephen Foster, having established himself as a graded stakes-caliber runner at his home track of Gulfstream Park but mainly in races held at 1 1/16 miles or shorter. He’s been very consistent over the past year, with his worst margin of defeat coming in the Alysheba, and counts a gritty nose win over Tumbarumba two starts back in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes Presented by Jack Christopher as his top career accomplishment. Steal Sunshine will need a fast pace to run into in order to have a shot at the upset, and he could get that with forwardly placed runners Classic Causeway, Skippylongstocking, Kingsbarns, and First Mission entered in the Foster. Still, making seven lengths up on Alysheba victor First Mission is a formidable task, and a more realistic scenario could have this 5-year-old close fast enough to hit the board at a nice price. Paco Lopez, currently based at Monmouth Park, flies in to ride Steal Sunshine after being aboard the horse in his five most recent starts.

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9. Skippylongstocking (5-2)

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr.

Owner: Daniel Alonso

Career record: 23 starts – 8 wins – 2 seconds – 4 thirds

Career earnings: $2,291,685

Earnings per start: $99,638

Top Equibase Speed Figure: 114

Pedigree: Exaggerator – Twinkling, by War Chant

Age: 5

Color: Bay

Running style: Press the pace

Notable achievements and interesting facts: Skippylongstocking figures to vie with First Mission for post-time favoritism in the Stephen Foster Stakes as, like that rival, he enters Saturday’s race off of two open-length victories following a disappointing start in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Baccarat. The veteran Exaggerator horse was pulled up in January’s Pegasus at Gulfstream Park, but he came back to rout an overmatched field in the Grade 3 Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes going 1 1/16 miles at Tampa Bay Downs. Then, more impressively, Skippylongstocking kicked clear in the stretch to defeat 10 opponents, scoring by two lengths in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap held at 1 1/8 miles in late April. That was his second Grade 2 victory and matches his five-length win in last year’s 1 1/8-mile Charles Town Classic Stakes as his best career accomplishment, although his solid third in the 2023 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile behind two superstars in Horse of the Year Cody’s Wish and multiple Grade 1 winner National Treasure also deserves mention. Skippylongstocking has competed at a high level against some of the best racehorses of his generation for two years and running, and as such is a big threat to win the Stephen Foster. Jockey Jose Ortiz was aboard for this horse’s win in the Oaklawn Handicap and will very likely be aggressive with his mount breaking from the outside post in order to secure a prominent early position close to projected pacesetter Classic Causeway before the field hits the first turn. Ortiz won the 2021 Foster aboard Maxfield.