On July 1 in Kentucky, the first domestic “Win and You’re In” qualifying race for this fall’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) will be held. The $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, meaning Saturday’s winner will receive an automatic berth to the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup 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 42nd edition of the race will be run at Ellis Park in Henderson, located 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 has 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 1/4 lengths and three starts later concluded his racing career with a runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup 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:
1. Proxy
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. 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 has been at his best, finishing third in the 2022 Stephen Foster, capturing an elusive grade 1 win last fall in the Clark Stakes, and then nearly getting another one this March when he rallied strongly but finished a neck behind Stilleto Boy in the Santa Anita Handicap. One start after that, he surged through the stretch once again and edged Last Samurai by a head in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2), with Stilletto 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.
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 (G1) 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, 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.
Stilleto Boy defeats an outside-charging Proxy n the Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita Park
3. Speed Bias
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 Pimlico Special Stakes (G3) 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 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 91-1 bomb Seek Gold.
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 n to win by a nose, and subsequently he powered clear to win the Blame Stakes (G3), a prep for the Stephen Foster, by 1 1/4 lengths in early June. His resume is certainly impressive, but look closer and you’ll see that aside from the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) 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.
5. Smile Happy
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 (G2) 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 Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard at Churchill Downs in May when he dominated a stellar field by two lengths in the Alysheba Stakes (G2). 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 (G1) 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.
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 Fayette Stakes (G2) last fall where he earned a 114 Equibase Speed Figure and a pace-pressing win in the New Orleans Classic Stakes (G2) 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, 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. 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.
West Will Power captures the New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds
7. Last Samurai
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 Samurai, 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 (G3) and the Essex Handicap (G3) 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, 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.
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 Race Course & Slots 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.
