Mandaloun Back in Action at Churchill in Stephen Foster

For the first time since Always Dreaming   ran fifth at Churchill Downs in 2018 as a 4-year-old, a Kentucky Derby (G1) winner returns to race beneath the Twin Spires when Juddmonte's Mandaloun  faces six rivals in the $750,000 Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) July 2.

Mandaloun, elevated to first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve in February following the disqualification of Medina Spirit for a medication violation, will now seek to add Churchill's richest spring race for older dirt males to his list of achievements. A Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" Challenge Race, the Stephen Foster offers a paid berth into the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) this fall at Keeneland.

Mandaloun and at least a couple others in the race appear to have bonafide Breeders' Cup credentials. Sharing the spotlight in the 1 1/8-mile dirt race is grade 1 winner Americanrevolution  and the streaking Olympiad , who is unbeaten in four starts this year. Both have a recency edge over comebacking Mandaloun.

Mandaloun, a son of Into Mischief   trained by Brad Cox, has raced twice as a 4-year-old. He outran Midnight Bourbon  to win the Louisiana Stakes (G3) in his season debut Jan. 22 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots before running a disappointing ninth in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) in Saudi Arabia Feb. 26.

In traffic over the opening furlong of the one-turn, 1 1/8-mile race, he advanced into the clear to press the pace three-wide before beginning to retreat leaving the turn. He finished 18 3/4 lengths behind upsetting local Emblem Road.

"Obviously we don't race much over there, not sure that's a track that he liked. It's a little bit deeper—I don't know how to describe it," said Cox. "But anything that was up close that night, particularly in that race, didn't finish anywhere. So it's one you draw a line through."

Cox reports that Mandaloun has rebounded well in his workouts leading toward the colt's first start in more than four months. The 4-year-old zipped six furlongs at Churchill Downs in 1:12 2/5 June 19 before returning with a 1:00 4/5 five-furlong breeze June 25 there.

"He's pretty fit. It depends how the race sets up—the complexion of the race," said Cox, who also runs Shortleaf Stable's Caddo River  in the Foster. "I think we've done about as much as we can do with him in the mornings. It's time for him to race."

Florent Geroux, Mandaloun's jockey throughout the colt's 10-race career, returns in the irons.

Americanrevolution and Olympiad—first and fourth, respectively, in the Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) last December, race against one another for the first time since that meeting.

China Horse Club and WinStar Farm's Americanrevolution has raced just once since the Cigar Mile, finishing fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs in his season debut. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher ended up returning him there as an alternative after a shorter, easier race against New York-breds at Belmont Park did not attract sufficient entries to be carded.

The Constitution   4-year-old raced competitively in the Blame but came up a little empty down the stretch, losing by three lengths to stablemate Dynamic One .

"My biggest concern with that was I really didn't want to run him a mile and an eighth off the layoff," Pletcher told Ren Carothers during a June 28 video interview hosted by Breeders' Cup and distributed on social media. "Anyways, we needed to get started. He simply got a little tired the last part, off the layoff, going a mile and an eighth and he had a pretty wide trip that day, as well.

"Hopefully that race and some subsequent good breezes have him set up for improved performance, which he'll need. The Foster looks like it is coming up a very competitive race, but he's training super."

Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stakes, and LNJ Foxwoods' Olympiad hasn't lost since the Cigar Mile, with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott keeping him concentrated in two-turn events. After capturing an allowance optional claiming race in January, he won a pair of graded races in fast time at Fair Grounds before adding the Alysheba Stakes Presented by Sentient Jet (G2) over the Churchill strip on the Kentucky Oaks (G1) undercard.

Headed by a returning Happy Saver  in early stretch, Olympiad (Speightstown  ) was resurgent to win by 2 1/2 lengths. Happy Saver subsequently ran a distant second to Flightline  in the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1).

Of the remaining entrants, Willis Horton Racing's Last Samurai  seems a player, having just won the Oaklawn Handicap (G2) by four lengths over next-out Brooklyn Stakes (G2) winner Fearless.

He starts Saturday for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas after previously being trained by one of his former assistants, Dallas Stewart. Horton transferred multiple horses from Stewart to Lukas.

Last Samurai and Olympiad are co-high weights at 124 pounds, spotting the opposition three to five pounds.

Stewart runs Charles Fipke's Title Ready , third in the Alysheba, while trainer Mike Stidham starts Godolphin's Proxy , runner-up in the Blame.

The Stephen Foster and other races from Churchill Downs will be televised by NBC during a two-hour program airing from 4-6 p.m. ET.

Entries: Stephen Foster S. (G2)

Churchill Downs, Saturday, July 02, 2022, Race 10

• Grade II
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $750,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 5:47 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Caddo River (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	119	Brad H. Cox	10/1
2	2Americanrevolution (NY)	Luis Saez	119	Todd A. Pletcher	7/2
3	3Olympiad (KY)	Junior Alvarado	124	William I. Mott	5/2
4	4Title Ready (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	119	Dallas Stewart	15/1
5	5Proxy (KY)	Joel Rosario	119	Michael Stidham	9/2
6	6Mandaloun (KY)	Florent Geroux	121	Brad H. Cox	2/1
7	7Last Samurai (KY)	Jon Kenton Court	124	D. Wayne Lukas	8/1