2025 Stephen Foster Stakes Preview

Key Takeaways:

• This year’s Stephen Foster Stakes has a stacked field, including Sierra Leone, Mystik Dan, Hit Show, and Mindframe, with a Breeders’ Cup Classic berth on the line.
• Mystik Dan and Hit Show enter off strong efforts and both handle wet tracks well, which is a key factor with rain in the forecast for Churchill Downs.
• Mindframe is lightly raced but improving fast, while Skippylongstocking enters off a career-best effort but must prove it wasn’t a fluke.
• Sierra Leone is consistent but pace-dependent, and Ashcroft looks outclassed—First Mission and Hill Show round out a field full of graded winners and contenders.

Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Stephen Foster drew a who’s who of the older dirt division. 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, 2024 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan, 2025 Dubai World Cup (G1) winner Hit Show, and 2025 Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) winner Mindframe lead the pack. But, it won’t be easy for any of them to add another Grade 1, as Santa Anita Gold Cup (G2) winner Skippylongstocking, Oaklawn Handicap (G2) winner First Mission, and up-and-coming Ashcroft will be chasing them down.

The race is one of the premier older-horse dirt races of the summer, and it’s no wonder why. At stake is not only the seven-figure purse, but also an automatic ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 1 at Del Mar.

Run since 1982, the Stephen Foster is one of the major races for older dirt route horses. Four have gone on to win Horse of the Year after wins in this race: Black Tie Affair (1991), Saint Liam (2005), Curlin (2008), and Gun Runner (2017). Five have won the Stephen Foster and the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the same year: in addition to Black Tie Affair, Saint Liam, and Gun Runner, Awesome Again (1998) and Blame (2010) also accomplished the feat.

Stephen Foster Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, June 28
• Track: Churchill Downs
• Post Time: 6:03 Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 1/8 miles
• Age/Sex: four-year-olds and upward
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2025 Stephen Foster Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the official field for the Stephen Foster, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds for each runner.

Ashcroft was entered under D. Wayne Lukas’ name, but Lukas abruptly retired from training the day after Foster entries went in due to severe medical issues. Bas Nicholl, Lukas’ assistant for over two decades, is taking over training the horses in his barn.

Stephen Foster Stakes Prep Race Results

Each of the horses in this field comes out of a different last-out race. But, not only is the field loaded with class, it’s also loaded with strong recent form.

Five of the runners are last-out graded-stakes or group-stakes winners, with two coming out of wins at the top level. Mindframe won the Churchill Downs Stakes, the top-class sprint race on the Kentucky Derby undercard. Hit Show makes his first start since shocking the world in the Dubai World Cup on April 5.

Skippylongstocking proved himself at the classic distance last out, winning the Santa Anita Gold Cup (G2) on May 26. First Mission has freshened up since a score in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) on April 19, going the same 1 ⅛-mile distance as the Stephen Foster. Mystik Dan, winless since his Kentucky Derby win last spring, comes out of a win in the Blame (G3), the course-and-distance prep for the Stephen Foster on May 31.

Only two of the seven horses come out of defeats. Sierra Leone has not run since finishing third in the New Orleans Classic (G2) on March 22, his only start since his Breeders’ Cup Classic triumph last November. Ashcroft, the only horse in the field without a graded-stakes win to his name, comes out of a sixth-place finish in the restricted Knicks Go on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

Stephen Foster Stakes Contenders

These are the seven contenders entered in the Stephen Foster:

1. First Mission: He failed as the favorite in this race last year, coming in as the up-and-coming buzz horse but finishing fourth behind Kingsbarns. This year, he looked a lot like he did last year, a solid Grade 2, Grade 3 horse with tactical speed. But, the field is much deeper than it was last year. The rail isn’t as big a concern as it could be, with only seven horses in the field: he has tactical speed, the rail has been quite good, and he has won from the rail with Luis Saez in the irons. Still, there’s no wiggle room for him—he is a contender on his best, but nothing below his best will do.
2. Mindframe: With six starts he is the least seasoned horse in the field—but four of those starts have been in graded-stakes company, and his only two losses so far came behind a fellow named Dornoch last year in the Belmont and the Haskell (G1), two of the premier sophomore dirt routes of the year. He looked like a speed horse going into the Churchill Downs Stakes last out, but showed a nice dimension of versatility rallying from midfield to score in that shorter race. He still has to prove he can beat top horses at two turns, but he performed admirably enough in those second-place finishes to Dornoch last year to think he can, and he is the only one lightly-enough raced to think he can move forward from previous form. He also looked great in the Churchill Downs slop on Derby day—with rain in the forecast for Saturday, that weighs in his favor.
3. Skippylongstocking: You don’t usually see intact six-year-olds with 32 starts in a Grade 1, but Skippylongstocking not only just keeps going—he turned in the best effort of his career last out in the Santa Anita Gold Cup. The cut back from the 1 ¼-mile trip last out to 1 ⅛ miles is a good thing, as Skippylongstocking has five wins and five other money finishes in 15 starts at the trip. The biggest question is … will he regress? His Gold Cup win was a step forward from any of his other form, and this time he’s facing the top of his division, instead of facing a field where he’s the odds-on chalk.
4. Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone always shows up—in 10 starts, he has never missed the money. Yes, finishing third, beaten 4 ½ lengths in the New Orleans Classic last out was a disappointment, but he never does quite as well when he doesn’t have a lively pace to chase, and he didn’t have one that day. The winner, Touchuponastar, is basically untouchable with a cozy lead like he got in that race. But, whether he gets enough pace to chase here…that’s questionable. First Mission, Mindframe, Skippylongstocking, Ashcroft, even Mystik Dan … they can all show some speed, but none of them need the front. As dependable as Sierra Leone is for a piece, whether he is a win contender on the day depends on the others, which could make him an underlay.
5. Mystik Dan: Though the long campaign got to Mystik Dan in the second half of 2024 and the early part of 2025, a winter-spring spell has done wonders for this Kenny McPeek trainee. He missed by a nose to Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown in the Lake Ouachita, his return race, and then made a rally reminiscent of his Derby-winning move to win the Blame last out. He gets back to the same course and distance, he has strong tactical pace, and McPeek and jockey Brian Hernandez are firing on all cylinders lately. Furthermore, he has done some of the best work of his career in the slop—with rain in the forecast on Stephen Foster day, that bodes well.
6. Hit Show: A well-proven Grade 2 and Grade 3 performer, Hit Show was dismissed in the Dubai World Cup but ran his best, rallying from midfield and rolling home even though Florent Geroux dropped his crop. Though as much early pace as possible will help him, he has been able to rally into modest paces and win—and he ran excellent efforts in the slop when winning both the Lukas Classic (G2) at Churchill last year, over the same distance as the Foster, as well as the Louisiana (G3) at Fair Grounds this year.
7. Ashcroft: After 12 starts, Ashcroft’s only wins so far have come in maiden and first-level allowance races at a mile at Santa Anita, both in the spring of 2024 when he was in the Robert Hess barn. His only start in the Lukas barn was a no-threat sixth in a restricted stakes on Kentucky Derby day; it came on a wet track as well, and he did not move forward enough to think he loves it, much less can dredge up the kind of race he needs to challenge the top echelon of the division.

Stephen Foster Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Stephen Foster Stakes?

A: The Stephen Foster happens Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 6:03 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the Stephen Foster Stakes?

A: The Stephen Foster Stakes happens at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Stephen Foster Stakes?

A: Eight trainers have won the Stephen Foster twice. Three are no longer active: Forrest Kaelin, Jere Smith, Sr., and Patrick Byrne. Steve Asmussen, Mark Casse, Bill Mott, Al Stall, and Dallas Stewart are all active, but none have a horse entered in 2025. Among trainers with horses entered this year, Brad Cox (Hit Show, First Mission) won in 2023 with West Will Power, and Todd Pletcher (Mindframe) won in 2024 with Kingsbarns. D. Wayne Lukas, who trained Ashcroft as of entry day, though has since retired, trained 1987 winner Red Attack.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Stephen Foster Stakes?

A: The morning-line favorite at 5-2 is Sierra Leone; though he was defeated in his only start so far this year, he had top-class form last year. However, make sure to watch the board: Mystik Dan (3-1) or Mindframe (7-2) have good enough recent form and good enough local form to vie at the top of the market.

Q: Who is the best Stephen Foster Stakes jockey?

A: Robby Albarado and Pat Day lead all jockeys with three Stephen Foster Handicap wins apiece, though neither rider is active anymore. Among those riding in 2025, five of them have won the race once: Luis Saez (First Mission), Jose Ortiz (Skippylongstocking), Flavien Prat (Sierra Leone), Brian Hernandez, Jr. (Mystik Dan), and Florent Geroux (Hit Show).

Q: Who won the Stephen Foster Stakes in 2024?

A: Kingsbarns won the 2024 Stephen Foster for trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Luis Saez. Pletcher entered Mindframe in 2025 with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons. Saez takes the call on First Mission for Brad Cox.

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