The $400,000 Bryan Station Stakes, which was recently upgraded to a Grade 2 for the first time, highlights the closing-day card of the fall meet Oct. 24 at Keeneland Race Course before the track prepares to host the Breeders’ Cup the following weekend. This year’s edition drew a full field of 12 plus four also-eligibles, with nine contenders from the main body of the field having a stakes win on their résumé. Run at a mile on the turf for 3-year-olds, the Bryan Station has been a staple of Keeneland’s closing weekend for the past 10 years. Remember Mamba, the 3-1 morning-line favorite, is trained by Cherie DeVaux, who won this race with Brilliant Berti in 2024.
Here’s a look at the field from the inside (rail) post position out:
Blackout Time, a Not This Time colt trained by Ken McPeek, will be switching to the turf for the first time in his career after nine starts on dirt. Blackout Time recently finished third in the St. Louis Derby and fourth in the Bourbon Flight Stakes. Emmanuel Esquivel retains the mount. McCready won a 1 3/16-mile allowance race in April in his one and only start on the Keeneland turf. The Practical Joke colt made a bid in the Saratoga Derby in his most previous start, finishing last of eight for trainer McLean Robertson. Julio Hernandez will be aboard for the first time while making his own debut at the Keeneland meet. Blinging It Back finished runner-up to fellow Bryan Station contender Bottas in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga in August and finished fifth by just 2 ¾ lengths last time out in the Mint Franklin-Simpson Stakes at Kentucky Downs when turning back in distance. The Volatile gelding trained by Mark Casse will have Axel Concepcion aboard for the first time since their bid in the American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs in May. Bottas, the 7-2 second morning-line betting choice, is coming off two consecutive stakes wins in Saratoga’s Hall of Fame Stakes and the KTDF Gun Runner Stakes at Kentucky Downs last time out. The Vekoma colt trained by Miguel Clement earned the highest Equibase Speed Figure of any Bryan Station contender in the Gun Runner, posting a 106 for his 1 ¼ length victory. Bottas will have a jockey switch from Jose Ortiz to Tyler Gaffalione. Infiltrate, the first of two entrants trained by Brendan Walsh, will switch back to the turf following a distant fifth-place finish last time out in the Bourbon Flight Stakes at Churchill in September. The Oscar Performance colt has made two career starts on the turf, finishing second in the Secretariat Stakes at Colonial Downs and 11th in the Gun Runner. Ben Curtis will be in the irons for the first time. Conducted won the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes last fall at Del Mar and was sidelined for nine months. The Mendelssohn colt returned in August and made a bid in the Secretariat Stakes for trainer Jose D’Angelo before going on to run second to Bottas in the Gun Runner. Luis Saez retains the mount.
Remember Mamba has made three consecutive starts at the highest level, finishing second in the American Turf Stakes, third in the Belmont Derby, and fourth in the Saratoga Derby Presented by Qatar Racing. The Kitten’s Joy colt will race with blinkers on for the first time for Cherie DeVaux. Remember Mamba is 2-for-2 over the Keeneland turf, winning his career debut last October and then winning the UK HealthCare Transylvania Stakes in April. Regular rider Jose Ortiz opts to stay aboard. Aces Honor, a Code of Honor gelding, has finished in the top three all five times when racing one mile on turf for trainer Ethan West. Aces Honor has finished runner-up three consecutive times leading up to this race with second-place finishes in the Jersey Derby at Monmouth Park in May, the Toronto Cup Presented by Crown Royal at Woodbine in August and then in an allowance race at Churchill. Luan Machado retains the mount. Fancy Sailor won the Water Tower Stakes at Ellis Park in August before posting a sixth-place finish last time out in the 1/ST BET Nashville Derby Invitational at Kentucky Downs. The Justify colt is 2-for-2 at the one-mile distance on turf and will have regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. back aboard for trainer Brian Lynch. Immortalised, the second entrant trained by Brendan Walsh, comes off a distant 10th-place finish in the Franklin-Simpson at Kentucky Downs when turning back to a sprint distance. The Romanised colt is 2-for-2 finishing in the top three at this distance and was runner-up to Bryan Station contender Alpyland in the Penn Mile Stakes back in May. John Velazquez, who has been aboard Immortalised in four of his career starts but was not aboard in the Franklin-Simpson, picks up the mount. Touch of Fire exits the Gun Runner Stakes where he finished fourth behind Bottas and Conducted. The Constitution colt and homebred for Juddmonte won his one and only start at Keeneland back in April, taking an allowance with an impressive late rally for trainer Brad Cox. Irad Ortiz Jr., who was aboard for the Keeneland win and also Touch of Fire’s win in the Audubon Stakes at Churchill Downs, will ride for the first time since the Hall of Fame Stakes in August. Alpyland, the second entrant trained by Mark Casse, is 4-for-4 at this mile distance on the turf, including three wins at the stakes level. The Vekoma gelding has finished in the top three in seven out of eight races as 3-year-old and has a maiden win at Keeneland last October. Regular rider Javier Castellano remains in the irons.
Analysis and main win contenders:
Remember Mamba fits the bill in the Bryan Station in nearly every category and is one of the few contenders not exiting a race at Kentucky Downs, which can be key considering horses at Keeneland who made their most previous start at Kentucky Downs win at just 9% from 1,050 starts over the last five years. Remember Mamba started his career a perfect 3-for-3 on turf, winning on debut at Keeneland by 4 ½ lengths before shipping down to Fair Grounds to win his 3-year-old bow by 3 ¼ lengths in his one and only start at this one-mile distance. Following a slight layoff, Remember Mamba returned to Keeneland in April to win the Transylvania Stakes going 1 1/16 miles and continued his improving Equibase Speed Figure pattern of 87 to 92 to 100. While he’s lost three races since the Transylvania, Remember Mamba continues to improve with every start by speed figures. In May, he rallied from 12th to nab a second-place finish in the American Turf Stakes at Churchill while improving to a 104 Equibase figure and repeated that figure in his next start, the Belmont Derby in July, when finishing third by just a neck. Last time out, Remember Mamba finished out of the top three for the first time in his career when fourth by just 2 ¾ lengths in the Saratoga Derby going 1 3/16 miles. The bay colt improved his Equibase figure once again to a 105 in the Saratoga Derby.
So far in his career, Remember Mamba has given his best performances off a more than two-month layoff, including in the Transylvania last spring, and he has been training extremely well since the Saratoga Derby, highlighted by three straight sharp four-furlong works at Keeneland in October. An interesting equipment change is the addition of blinkers. Cherie DeVaux has switched to first-time blinkers in graded stakes just four times over the last five years, including with She Feels Pretty who dominated the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland when adding blinkers and also with Golden Tempo, who finished third by a length in the Twinspires Louisiana Derby in his first start with blinkers but then went on to win the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets with the added equipment. DeVaux and Jose Ortiz have enjoyed much success this year, of course with Golden Tempo, but they also win at 32% in all races together at Keeneland over the past year and that win percentage jumps to 36% on the turf at Keeneland in the same time frame. Remember Mamba is also ranked first in early pace, middle pace, average class and average speed among Bryan Station entrants while ranking second in late pace with a 104.5 rating. Despite facing a contentious field in the Bryan Station, Remember Mamba should be able to sit in midpack off the pace and unleash his late rally to win at a price hopefully similar to his 3-1 odds on the morning line.
Like Remember Mamba, Alpyland will also be adding blinkers for the first time, a move that trainer Mark Casse has had success with, winning at 20% in all races with horses switching to blinkers for the first time (excluding first-time starters) from a sample of 51 starts over the past year. Alpyland is a colt who knows how to find the winner’s circle and always gives a hard-fought effort in every race, as he’s finished in the top three in 10 out of 13 starts so far with six wins and four thirds. Alpyland notched his first win right here at Keeneland in his third career start when taking a turf sprint as a 2-year-old last October before shipping down to Gulfstream Park and firing off two straight wins at the mile distance on turf, including the Dania Beach Stakes. Alpyland went on to win the Columbia Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs in March and then dominated the Penn Mile by four lengths in May, making him a perfect 4-for-4 racing one mile. In June, Alpyland drew clear to win the 1 1/16-mile American Derby at Churchill by 3 ½ lengths and then finished a narrow third in his last two starts leading into this race, the Secretariat Stakes going 1 1/16 miles and the Franklin-Simpson sprinting at 6 ½ furlongs. This gelding is an early presser as most of his wins have come when he was in the lead after a half-mile, so the far outside post in the Bryan Station could pose some trouble. That said, Alpyland won his Keeneland maiden from an outside post, and it is also a meaningful positive that regular rider Javier Castellano will be leaving Belmont Park to ride him. Now that he’s back at his preferred distance and racing over a course he won on, Alpyland has a wonderful opportunity to steal the Bryan Station at a solid 9-2 morning-line price.
Bottas will be tough to beat as he comes into this race in top form off back-to-back stakes wins. Bottas won his first two career starts in 2025, including the Pilgrim Stakes held at 1 1/16 miles, before making an unsuccessful bid in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. As a 3-year-old, Bottas finished a good third in the Pennine Ridge Stakes at Saratoga coming off a seven-month layoff where he earned a 96 Equibase figure. In July, he finished fifth by just 1 ¼ lengths in the Belmont Derby behind Remember Mamba in third but again improved his Equibase figure to a 102. He repeated that 102 number in a 1 ½-length victory in the Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga in August before shipping to Kentucky Downs to rally from 10th to score a 1 ¼-length victory in the Gun Runner over Bryan Station contenders Infiltrate, Conducted and Touch of Fire. Bottas earned a 106 Equibase figure for that performance, which is the highest last-out speed figure of any other colt or gelding in this race. Over the past year, horses competing in graded stakes races on turf with the highest last-out Equibase Speed Figure are winning at a solid 26% and finishing in the top three at a 58% rate from 232 total starts. Bottas is also ranked first in the field based on late pace with a 109.0 rating and will be rallying late, most likely with Remember Mamba. Jose Ortiz, who was aboard Bottas in the Gun Runner, opts to ride Remember Mamba; however, Bottas gets a more than suitable replacement with Tyler Gaffalione, who has been having a tremendous fall meet at Keeneland. One thing to keep in mind: Miguel Clement has made seven career starts at Keeneland and has yet to earn a top-three finish. While Bottas could give Clement his first winner at Keeneland, especially with his recent form, he will have to overcome some obstacles and will most likely go off at post-time odds shorter than his 7-2 morning line price.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures in similar races, is Blackout Time (94), McCready (93), Blinging It Back (100), Infiltrate (90), Conducted (104), Aces Honor (102), Fancy Sailor (102), Immortalised (98), and Touch of Fire (102).
Win contenders in preference order:
Remember Mamba
Alpyland
Bottas
