Olympiad wins Churchill's Stephen Foster to stay undefeated as 4-year-old
Oympiad remained undefeated as a 4-year-old and punched his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
With Junior Alvarado riding, Olympiad took the lead off the second turn and cruised home to a 2 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s $750,000, Grade 2 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs.
Olympiad, a son of Speightstown, covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.66 and paid $5 to win as the 3-2 favorite. The Stephen Foster was a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Classic set for Nov. 5 at Keeneland.
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The winning time was just shy of the track record of 1:47.28 set by Victory Gallop in 1999.
"I thought it was a very game win this afternoon," trainer Bill Mott said. "There were some nice horses in this field, and I thought he did things rather easily. It was really nice to see him win like that."
Americanrevolution finished second and was followed by Proxy and 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun.
Caddo River set the early fractions of 23.05 seconds for the quarter-mile, 46.45 seconds for the half-mile and 1:10.64 for three-quarters before fading and giving way to Olympiad.
"This horse has such a big stride on him and really extends it late in races," Alvarado said. "I think as he's gotten older he's gotten faster in each start. Today we sat in a good position just off of the early pace, and he showed how powerful his stride can be. I asked him a little bit in the final furlong, and he continued to get faster."
Olympiad is now 5 for 5 in 2022 and entered off a victory in the Grade 2 Alysheba on May 6 at Churchill.
Olympiad’s next race could come Aug. 6 in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga.
Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @KentuckyDerbyCJ.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs 2022: Olympiad wins, stays unbeaten
