Did you know: Champions featured on Stephen Foster honor roll

Jun 26, 2026 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Gun Runner winning the 2017 Stephen Foster

Hall of Famer Gun Runner winning the 2017 Stephen Foster (G1) (Photo by Coady Media)

Saturday’s $2 million Stephen Foster (G1) is a vintage renewal at Churchill Downs, pitting reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty, the 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner, against $8.4 million-earner White Abarrio and last-out Dubai World Cup (G1) conqueror Magnitude.

But did you know that the Stephen Foster has historically played host to champions, including future Hall of Famers? Inaugurated in 1982, the 1 1/8-mile test showcased a couple of high-profile winners in its first decade, and the honor roll has grown more illustrious in the ensuing years.

The Stephen Foster also has a noteworthy connection to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). As a “Win and You’re In,” it highlights contenders for the championship event in the fall.

Last year’s Stephen Foster attracted champion Sierra Leone, the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner, and his familiar foes from the Triple Crown trail, Mystik Dan and Mindframe. Mystik Dan had denied Sierra Leone in the epic Kentucky Derby of 2024, while Mindframe and Sierra Leone were second and third, respectively, in that year’s Belmont (G1).

When they renewed rivalry in the 2025 Foster, Mindframe came out on top, with Sierra Leone a closing second and Mystik Dan fourth. Sierra Leone went on to win the prestigious Whitney (G1) at Saratoga, and in his Breeders’ Cup title defense at Del Mar, he finished second to Japan’s superstar Forever Young – another old rival from the 2024 Derby.

Hall of Famers in the Stephen Foster

Hall of Famers Gun Runner, Curlin, and Silver Charm likewise underscore the links between the Kentucky Derby, Stephen Foster, and the Breeders’ Cup. Gun Runner and Curlin were trained by Steve Asmussen (represented by Magnitude on Saturday), and fellow Hall of Fame horseman Bob Baffert conditioned Silver Charm.

Gun Runner, who was third in the 2016 Derby, progressed to become Horse of the Year at four the following season. His record seven-length romp in the 2017 Stephen Foster marked the decisive turning point, and he never lost again. Gun Runner compiled a five-race winning streak including the Breeders’ Cup Classic and his career finale in the 2018 Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park.

Curlin, the third-placer in the 2007 Derby who won the Preakness (G1) and just missed in the Belmont, has a slightly different trajectory. He was already the reigning Horse of the Year when he made a triumphant return to Churchill in the 2008 Foster. His Foster victory capped a five-race skein punctuated by the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic and the 2008 Dubai World Cup (G1). Curlin tried to defend his Classic title at Santa Anita, but he wasn’t as effective on the synthetic surface in place at the time, and he checked in fourth.

Silver Charm won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 1997, only to have his Triple Crown hopes dashed in deep stretch of the Belmont. The following year, the battling gray captured the Dubai World Cup and made his homecoming in the Stephen Foster. Silver Charm was heavily favored at 2-5, but carrying the top weight of 127 pounds, he could not hold off Awesome Again, who toted just 113 pounds.

The 1998 Foster turned out to be a foreshadowing of the Breeders’ Cup. Back at Churchill in November for one of the deepest Classics ever, Awesome Again beat Silver Charm again in a dramatic finish to conclude his perfect season. Awesome Again would himself be enshrined in the Canadian Hall of Fame. The Ontario-bred scored his first major win in the 1997 Queen’s Plate, the iconic 1 1/4-mile classic for three-year-olds born in Canada.

Wise Dan was another U.S. Hall of Famer overturned as an odds-on favorite in the Stephen Foster. Enduring a tough trip in the 2012 edition, he was beaten a head by Ron the Greek. Trailing home last was Fort Larned, the eventual winner of that fall’s Breeders’ Cup Classic as well as the 2013 Foster.

Wise Dan had been a triple-surface performer, effective on dirt, synthetic tracks, and turf. After his Foster reverse, he focused on turf and became a win machine. Wise Dan clinched Horse of the Year honors in both 2012 and 2013 with back-to-back victories in the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).

Other Breeders’ Cup champions in the Stephen Foster

Before Blame dethroned Hall of Famer Zenyatta in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill, he had already starred in two major races beneath the Twin Spires. As a three-year-old in 2009, he defeated elders in the Clark (G2), the fall meet’s companion 1 1/8-mile race to the spring meet’s Foster. Blame turned the double in the 2010 Foster, presaging his career-defining win in the Classic that earned him champion older male honors.

Because the Clark and Foster are held over the same track and trip, it stands to reason that there’s a degree of overlap between them. Familiar faces can compete in both, and the prior year’s Clark has been known to furnish clues for the Foster. Blame and Gun Runner, who won the 2016 Clark, are among those to land both.

Saint Liam, the 2005 Horse of the Year, likewise swept the 2004 Clark and 2005 Foster. By adding the Breeders’ Cup Classic to his resume, he became the first to complete a triple that only Blame and Gun Runner have managed to emulate.

Black Tie Affair (1991) was the first to take the Stephen Foster en route to Horse of the Year honors. His front-running coup in the Foster was the start of a six-race winning streak that culminated in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, also held at Churchill that year. Finishing third in that Classic as the defending champion was Unbridled, the 1990 Kentucky Derby hero.

Kentucky Derby trail veterans in the Stephen Foster

Beyond Hall of Famers Silver Charm, Curlin, and Gun Runner, Derby veterans (if not Derby winners) have been part of the Stephen Foster’s fabric throughout its history.

Perfect Drift, third in the 2002 Derby, was a mainstay in the Foster for four straight years. Famously upsetting eventual Horse of the Year Mineshaft in the 2003 running, Perfect Drift placed in 2004, 2005, and 2006.

Victory Gallop, runner-up to Real Quiet in the 1998 Derby and Preakness before nipping him in the Belmont, scored his most resounding victory in the 1999 Foster. Romping by five lengths in then track-record time, he still owns the stakes record in 1:47.28. Victory Gallop went on to win the Whitney and wrap up the Eclipse Award for champion older male.

Vanlandingham, a 1984 Derby participant, was the first Foster winner to be voted champion older male. Following his success in the 1985 edition, he added the Suburban H. (G1), Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), and the Washington D.C. International (G1) on turf.

Mythical Ruler, a 1981 Derby also-ran, placed in the first two runnings of the Foster before winning in 1984. Flashy Bull (2007) and Kingsbarns (2024) likewise advanced from unplaced efforts as three-year-olds in the Derby to capture the following year’s Foster.

Will Take Charge, the champion three-year-old male of 2013, was runner-up as the favorite in the 2014 Foster. Unplaced in all three jewels of the 2013 Triple Crown, he thrived later in the season when just missing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and winning the Clark. Will Take Charge thus embodies the links among the Derby, Foster, Breeders’ Cup, and Clark.

The Foster honor roll includes horses who would have been prime players in the preceding year’s Derby, until injury ruled them out. Street Cry (2002) and his paternal grandson Maxfield (2021) are the shining exemplars in this category, and Magnitude will try to join them.

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