Mindframe Defeats All-Star Cast In Stephen Foster
Mindframe's future as a stallion at the Hancock family's Claiborne Farm had already been determined, but the 4-year-old Constitution colt further enhanced his resume on Saturday with a second consecutive Grade 1 victory over a top-class field in the $1-million Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
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In what jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. called the "most professional race in his whole career," Mindframe tracked pacesetter First Mission from the start, moved to the front in mid-stretch, then held off late-running Sierra Leone – last year's G1 Breeders' Cup Classic winner – by one length. First Mission, coming off a win in the G2 Oaklawn Handicap, held third, 1 1/4 lengths farther back and a neck ahead of 2024 G1 Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in fourth. Hit Show, winner of this year's G1 Dubai World Cup, finished fifth, with Ashcroft, the final Grade 1 entry for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, finishing last. Skippylongstocking was scratched.
Favored at 9-5, Mindframe paid $5.76 to win after covering nine furlongs on a fast main track in 1:47.48. First Mission set all the fractions, going the first quarter in :23.94, a half-mile in :47.94, six furlongs in 1:11.46, and a mile in 1:34.93.
"We're just incredibly proud of him for how he was able to stretch out his natural speed today," said Mindframe's trainer, Todd Pletcher. "Sierra Leone came with a huge run around the turn and he had to hold off some top-class horses and was able to do so."
The Stephen Foster, first run in 1982, is a "Win and You're In" Breeders' Cup Challenge Series racing, providing the winner with an automatic fees-paid berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic, to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
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Pletcher was winning the Stephen Foster for the second time, after taking the 2024 running with Kingsbarns. He races for the partnership of Vincent and Teresa Viola's St. Elias Stables and Mike Repole's Repole Stable. Bred in Maryland by R. Larry Johnson, Mindframe was purchased from the Betz Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $800,000. He was produced from the Street Sense mare Walk of Stars.
Mindframe didn't race until March 30 of his 3-year-old campaign, but it was a memorable debut, winning a seven-furlong Gulfstream Park maiden race by 13 3/4 lengths and earning a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. He was similarly impressive next out, taking a Churchill Downs allowance/optional claiming event by 7 1/4 lengths on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby won by Mystik Dan. Mindframe's Beyer Speed Figure that day was 97 compared to 100 for Mystik Dan.
Five weeks later, Mindframe made his stakes debut in the G1 Belmont Stakes, run at 1 1/4 miles at Saratoga while Belmont Park was being rebuilt. Sent away at 5-1, Mindframe challenged Dornoch in the stretch, poking his head in front briefly, but then drifted out late to lose to Dornoch by a half-length. Six weeks later he tackled Dornoch again in the G1 Haskell, but the result was the same.
Mindframe was given the rest of the year off because of bone bruising, but was victorious on his return in the G2 Gulfstream Park Mile March 1. Next out in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes on Kentucky Derby day, Mindframe earned his first G1 triumph, winning by a neck over dead-heat runners-up Banishing and Nysos.
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"To do what he's done in his career, never finished worse than second, just missed winning a classic in his third lifetime start, won a Grade 1 at seven furlongs and now nine furlongs," said Jacob West, bloodstock manager for Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky., where Mindframe will enter stud at the end of his racing career.
What's the year-end goal for Mindframe?
"He's so versatile, he can do whatever he wants, whether it be the (Dirt) Mile, the Sprint, or the Classic," West added. "He's one of those horses. Todd said it a little bit ago – he's a generational horse because of what he's been able to do."
The pace scenario for the Stephen Foster changed when Saffie Joseph Jr. opted to scratch Skippylongstocking, who was expected to be the speed in the race. Luis Saez seized the advantage by sending First Mission from the inside post position, but Mindframe never allowed him to get more than a one-length advantage. Sierra Leone, meanwhile, was last early as is his custom, but approaching the far turn Flavien Prat put the Gun Runner colt into contention with a three-wide move. Mindframe slipped away to a two-length lead with a furlong to run and while Sierra Leone cut that margin to a length at the wire, he wasn't a threat to the winner.
'He broke really sharp last time sprinting but we figured today might be a different scenario," Ortiz said of Mindframe. "He was able to track just off the pace and had a perfect trip. He had to come running. This was a really good field today and I'm really proud the way that he finished to hold off some of the best horses in the country right now.'
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Prat said of Sierra Leone: "He came with a big run for me today but was just kind of grinding down the lane and just couldn't catch the winner. He tried hard but just didn't quite have enough punch today."
This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
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