Stephen Foster Handicap
| Grade I race | |
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Curlin on his way to winning the Stephen Foster Handicap 2008
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| Location |
Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1982 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | Churchill Downs |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1 1⁄8 miles (9 furlongs) |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | Left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-Year-Olds and Up |
| Weight | Handicap |
| Purse | $500,000 added |
The Stephen Foster Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run in mid-June near the end of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is named in honor of famed composer Stephen Foster, who wrote numerous melodies including "My Old Kentucky Home" which is the song that is annually played as the Kentucky Derby field parades on the track. It is run on the dirt at a distance of 1 1⁄8 miles for three-year-olds and up.
The Stephen Foster Handicap was created in 1982 and has progressed from Grade III status in 1988 to Grade II in 1995 to Grade I in 2002. It is currently the last Grade I event held at the Churchill Downs spring meeting. Currently offering a purse of $500,000 added, the race draws some of the top older horses from various parts of the United States. It is a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" event, offering the winner an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
The race was restricted to horses four years of age an older in 1983 and from 1985 through 1987.
The 2006 edition of the Stephen Foster Handicap produced its biggest upset ever when jockey Calvin Borel aboard 91-1 longshot Seek Gold defeated the favored 2003 winner, Perfect Drift.
Three horses used victories in the Stephen Foster as part of their resumes in Horse of the Year campaigns. The three are Black Tie Affair (1991), Saint Liam (2005) and Curlin (2008). Four horses have won the Stephen Foster and the Breeders' Cup Classic in the same year. Black Tie Affair (1991), Awesome Again (1998) and Blame (2010) won both races at Churchill Downs. Saint Liam won his running of the Classic at Belmont Park. Curlin (2008) carried the highest impost of any Stephen Foster winner: 128 pounds. Colonial Colony (2004) carried the lightest winning Foster impost at 111 pounds.
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