Stephen Foster Handicap Stephen Foster Handicap 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 miles for three-year-olds and up. The Stephen Foster Handicap was created in 1982 and progressed from Grade III status in 1988 to Grade II in
Fort Larned (horse) Wilkes stated that the horse had made great improvement and it was suggested that he was well-suited by being allowed to "run free". At Churchill Downs in May he finished second in the Alysheba Stakes behind Successful Dan, with Mucho Macho Man in third. At the same course a month later he was moved into Grade I class and finished unplaced behind Ron the Greek in the Stephen Foster Handicap after being forced wide in the straight. In his next race, Fort Larned was ridden for the first time by Brian Hernandez, Jr.. At Prairie Meadows on June 30, he