The fields for the 14 races that comprise the Breeders’ Cup World Championships really begin to come into focus in summer and fall. This regular feature will offer a snapshot profile of one of the previous weekend’s standout stars, usually a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series winner, and assess their chances to win Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar.

This week, to kick off the 2025 series, we take a closer look at Mindframe, who won the $940,000 Stephen Foster Stakes June 28 by a length at Churchill Downs. The Constitution colt clinched a guaranteed spot in the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic with the victory via the Win and You’re In Challenge Series.

Accomplishments:

Maryland-bred Mindframe did not debut until March 30 of his 3-year-old season, just over 15 months ago. He immediately turned heads with a 13 ¾-length romp in a seven-furlong race at Gulfstream Park, and then followed that up with a 7 ½-length runaway in his first two-turn try at 1 1/16 miles on the May 4 Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. Those two races set him up for a start in the Belmont Stakes, which was held at 1 ¼ miles on Saratoga’s dirt track, and by this point Mindframe was a textbook “buzz horse” for the race that featured the winners of the Kentucky Derby (Mystik Dan) and Preakness Stakes (Seize the Grey). He nearly won the Belmont despite the huge class hike, engaging pacesetter Dornoch in the stretch but wavering in the final strides and ending up a half-length short.

Mindframe made one more start at age 3 in the NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes held at 1 1/8 miles over Monmouth Park’s dirt track, and once again he finished second to Dornoch while drifting in and out late. The Belmont and Haskell, unlike his earlier 2024 starts, were hard-fought affairs where Mindframe was challenged by his regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr. to give a maximum effort nearing the finish, and the colt’s inexperience showed both times even though he responded willingly.

As it turned out, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher gave Mindframe the rest of 2024 off to recover from bone bruising, and in his three starts this year the colt has been perfect, easily winning the one-turn Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes Presented by Domestic Product in his March seasonal bow and then proving best against a stacked field in the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford on the May 3 Kentucky Derby undercard when rallying stoutly and prevailing by a nose over three foes at the finish line.

Pletcher’s patient approach in paid off big-time in the Stephen Foster, as Mindframe delivered a new career peak effort stretching back out to two turns in his third start of the year. In the 1 1/18-mile race, Mindframe sat close behind and to the outside of pacesetting multiple graded stakes winner First Mission through moderate early fractions, surged to the lead in early stretch, and finished strong under urging from Irad Ortiz Jr. to hold off a late bid from 2024 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Sierra Leone. The field also included Mystik Dan and this year’s Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline winner Hit Show, making Mindframe’s victory even more impressive and securing his status as the early-summer leader in the older dirt male division with the Nov. 1 Longines Classic on the horizon.

Speed Figures:

Mindframe earned a career-top Equibase Speed Figure (118) and Beyer Speed Figure (105) in the Foster, which he won in a time of 1:47.48 that was the fastest since 2020 and the third-fastest since Victory Gallop set the stakes record of 1:47.28 in 1999. He has not had an Equibase Speed Figure under 101 or a Beyer under 97 in his career – he’s been fast from the start and at a variety of distances – but the jump for both numbers in the Foster augurs well for his future races, as it’s expected that Mindframe will not compete at distances shorter than the Foster’s mile and an eighth for the rest of the year.

Looking Ahead:

There’s just over four months to go before Breeders’ Cup weekend, and the field for this year’s Longines Classic is looking exceptionally strong right now. Mindframe certainly has earned his ranking at or near the top of the contenders’ list, and it will be interesting to see how owners Mike Repole (Repole Stable) and Vincent Viola (St. Elias Stable) and Todd Pletcher map his campaign for the rest of the summer and early fall. Will he have only one more prep between now and the Classic? Two? Would Repole run Mindframe against his fellow 4-year-old Fierceness in, say, the Whitney Stakes Aug. 2 at Saratoga? Or could we see Mindframe head west for a start in the late August FanDuel Pacific Classic Stakes at Del Mar against a California group that, Journalism aside, doesn’t appear to be all that imposing?

No matter the plan, Mindframe is a definite “buy” as a Classic win candidate coming out of the best race of his career. He has matured into a professional racehorse and with only seven starts under his belt, even more improvement is not out of the question.