Andy Newton
Churchill Downs announced on May 20 that the purse for the June 27 Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) has been doubled from $1 million to $2 million.
Marketed as the “Summer Showdown,” the 45th running of the Grade 1 contest over 1 1/8 miles on dirt for horses aged four and older will be shown live on NBCSN and Peacock between 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. ET.
Several of the sport’s leading dirt performers are being considered for this year’s renewal. Which will be run at 6:03pm ET.
Trainer Bill Mott will be represented by reigning Horse of the Year and 2025 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Sovereignty, alongside 2025 Pennsylvania Derby (G1) hero Baeza.
Steve Asmussen is targeting Dubai World Cup (G1) winner Magnitude, while Saffie Joseph Jr. will saddle recent Oaklawn Handicap (G2) winner White Abarrio in a star-studded cast heading to Churchill Downs at the end of June.
Stephen Foster Stakes Purse Breakdown 2026
See how the 2026 Stephen Foster Stakes $2m purse will be split between the horses.
- 1st – $1,060,000 (53% of the purse)
- 2nd – $450,000 (22.5%)
- 3rd – $250,000 (12.5%)
- 4th – $140,000 (7%)
- 5th – $100,000 (5%)
“Stephen Foster Day has grown tremendously over the last several years, attracting some of the world’s best horses. And this purse boost helps solidify our closing weekend as a must-see premier horse racing event,” Churchill Downs president Mike Anderson said.
“Firmly positioned in late June with lucrative prize money on the line, the Stephen Foster is an ideal summertime race for the best Thoroughbreds to compete at historic Churchill Downs. We truly believe horsemen and women, as well as horse racing fans around the world, will enthusiastically respond to this Summer Showdown.”
2025 Stephen Foster Day Betting Reached $20.7m
The growth of the meeting has already been reflected in the betting figures. All-sources wagering on last year’s Stephen Foster Day reached a record $20.7 million, an increase of $1.9 million, or 10 per cent, compared with the $18.8 million handled on the 2024 card.
Alongside the two-hour NBCSN and Peacock broadcast, FanDuel TV will show the entire Stephen Foster Day programme. The 12-race card begins at 12:45 p.m. and includes seven stakes races. Three of them graded contests.
Among the supporting features is the $500,000 Fleur de Lis Stakes (G2), run over the same 1 1/8-mile distance for fillies and mares.
Nominations for the Stephen Foster close on June 10. Owners will pay $20,000 to enter and a further $20,000 to start, representing 2% of the total purse.
The winner will receive 53% of the prize money. Which is expected to exceed $1 million, while second place earns 22.5%.
Third receives 12.5%, the fourth takes 7% and fifth collects 5%.
After 1.5% is paid to each of the sixth-through-last-place finishers, the remaining prize money is distributed accordingly.
The $2 million purse includes $100,000 from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.
Stephen Foster Part Of The Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series
Both the Stephen Foster and the Fleur de Lis form part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series.
Meaning the winners secure automatic berths in the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) and the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), respectively, which will be staged at Keeneland on October 31.
Last year’s Stephen Foster produced one of the standout races of the 2025 season. Mindframe, who had earlier landed the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1) on the Kentucky Derby undercard, defeated Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and champion three-year-old Sierra Leone by a length.
Oaklawn Handicap winner First Mission finished third, 2024 Kentucky Derby hero Mystik Dan was fourth. While Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show came home fifth.
WATCH: Mindframe Winning The 2025 Stephen Foster Stakes
