In a bounce-back performance, Spirit of St Louis rallied to win the $1 million, Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes May 3 at Churchill Downs, seizing the early season lead in the male turf division. The Turf Classic was the lead-in race to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on a stakes-rich day at Churchill that included three other Grade 1 events and three Grade 2 stakes.

While Spirit of St Louis captured the first big turf prize of the North American season when he secured a narrow victory in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes Presented by Qatar Racing in January at Gulfstream Park, he struggled a bit in his next step when fourth in the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes Presented by Horse Racing Nation March 22 on the Fair Grounds turf.

That uncharacteristic outcome – Spirit of St Louis had finished first or second in 13 of his previous 14 starts before that race – on paper made the Turf Classic appear open for the taking, but that would change in the 1:48.20 it took Spirit of St Louis to complete Saturday’s 1 1/8-mile test for older horses on good turf.

Starting from post nine in the field of 10, Spirit of St Louis broke a step slow, then moved into the three path early as TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes winner Mercante and then Muniz Memorial runner-up Gigante set the early pace.

Mercante cruised through the turn and re-emerged with the lead into the stretch, but Spirit of St Louis had made up ground four wide in the far turn and he fanned eight wide to find a clear path, taking command at the sixteenth pole on his way to a three-quarter length win. Trainer Chad Brown earned his fifth career victory in the Turf Classic with the 3.12-1 post-time favorite.

In a blanket finish from second to fifth place, Mercante courageously held second in his Grade 1 debut while Highway Robber, also making his Grade 1 debut, rallied for third. Brown credited jockey Manny Franco for adjusting after the slow start.

“The horse actually didn’t break well, or wasn’t standing well. I didn’t quite get the whole story from Manny, but he wasn’t as close as I thought he would be early,” Brown said. “But Manny did a great job of just going to Plan B – save some ground on that first turn, and they all came back to him. I was confident he’d handle this off turf.”

With the win, Spirit of St Louis improves to 11-3-0 from 16 starts with earnings of $1,809,250.

Other Undercard Races

Mindframe (#7) wins a thriller. (Coady Media)

There were six other graded stakes held at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard. Three of them were Grade 1 events, and in the day’s most thrilling result, Mindframe proved best in a four-horse photo finish to take the seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Ford with a furious outside rally under Irad Ortiz Jr. That was Mindframe’s second win of the year after he returned from a break of over seven months to win the Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes Presented by Domestic Product. Banishing and Nysos finished in a dead heat for second – the latter in his first race off of a 15-month layoff – and Book’em Danno settled for fourth.

Fans at Churchill witnessed an emerging star filly in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff Presented by Kendall-Jackson Winery, as California-based Kopion powered home to an impressive three-length win over familiar foe Hope Road. The Richard Mandella trainee had won two graded stakes at Santa Anita Park at the same seven-furlong distance as the Derby City Distaff after coming back in December 2024 from a break of over eight months, and she cemented her status as the best filly or mare sprinter in North America with her win under Kazushi Kimura.

The Grade 1 American Turf Stakes Presented by Ford held at 1 1/16-miles for 3-year-olds featured a competitive field, but it was the 2.17-1 post-time favorite, Zulu Kingdom, that prevailed by 1 ¼ lengths after rallying from a pace-pressing position with Flavien Prat in the irons. The American Turf was Zulu Kingdom’s fifth win in six career starts and fourth stakes score.

The Grade 2 Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by SAP drew a field that included several 3-year-olds previously on the road to the Kentucky Derby. But it was a sprinter, Macho Music, that dominated the one-turn mile race by 3 ¼ lengths, setting the early pace and powering clear in the stretch under Javier Castellano to win going away.

In the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Presented by Accenture, favored Think Big looked hopelessly defeated early in the stretch as California shipper Boss Sully drove clear in the 5 ½-furlong dash. But the Twirling Candy gelding rallied swiftly with strong handling by Ben Curtis to edge that foe by three-quarters of a length at the finish and secure his third consecutive stakes victory.

To lead off the day’s graded stakes action, 4-year-old filly Simply in Front came back off of a layoff of over five months to win the Grade 2 Longines Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile Stakes by a neck over Pin Up Betty. The Summer Front filly was piloted by Luis Saez, who replaced Frankie Dettori and gave his mount an expertly timed ride to secure the victory in the final stride.