The May 2 Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) at Churchill Downs drew a salty field of 10 older males with not much separating the top choices from each other.
Among those vying for the lion's share of the lucrative $1.5 million pot is the race's 2024 winner, Program Trading; last year's runner-up, Mercante; and grade 1 winners Test Score, Rhetorical, and Gold Phoenix.
The tepid 5-2 morning-line favorite is the Will Walden-trained Rhetorical, winner of last year's Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland. The New York-bred son of Not This Time figures to be in sharp form for his second start of 2026.
Looking to stop Rhetorical in his tracks is the Graham Motion-trained Test Score, the neck winner of the Jan. 24 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1T). Motion also saddled One Stripe, the Pegasus' runner-up, who is not in this field, but returned to run another sharp second, finishing a half-length in front of third-place Rhetorical, in April's Maker's Mark Mile (G1T).
Test Score, a 4-year-old homebred son of Lookin At Lucky for Amerman Racing, has raced with the addition of blinkers in his past three starts. Besides the victory in the Pegasus Turf, the colt wore blinkers to win the Oct. 25 Twilight Derby (G2T) and to finish third, beaten less than 1 length, in the Nov. 29 Hollywood Derby (G1T).
"He's a little bit of a lazy horse in the morning, and (jockey) Manny (Franco) always wanted me to put blinkers on him, but I never wanted to, because he always ran so well," Motion said. "He just seems so honest.
"I finally put (blinkers) on him in California. Ironically, Manny didn't ride him in California when I put them on, but it definitely did seem to help him, for sure.
"You do have to step up from 3 to 4 (to face seasoned older horses) and, to be honest, I didn't know if he had that (in him)," Motion added. "I think that's why the Pegasus is so rewarding. Then the fact that One Stripe came back and ran so well in the Maker's Mark, confirmed the form to me."
Trainer Chad Brown, who has won this race a record five times since 2019, including the two most recent editions, will saddle Program Trading and Asbury Park. Program Trading, whose last win came in the 2024 Turf Classic, had a lengthy layoff, from June 2024 to August 2025, and while not running poor races, he hasn't seemed to have that same spark he showed earlier in his career. Looking to shake things up for the 6-year-old ridgling, Brown has added blinkers.
The lightly raced 4-year-old Asbury Park was last seen at the races when he won the 1 3/8-mile Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes (G2T) in early October.
The remarkable Gold Phoenix is the gift that keeps on giving. The 8-year-old has won at least one graded stakes each year since 2022. The California shipper enters off a win in the March 21 San Luis Rey Stakes (G3T). He finished fourth in the Turf Classic last year, beaten 1 1/4 lengths by the winner, Spirit of St Louis.
The unknown in the field is Wathnan Racing's Make Me King, a 6-year-old making his United States debut. The Dark Angel gelding won a group race in Doha in February as a prep for the Dubai Turf Classic (G1T) where he finished fourth, beaten nearly 4 lengths by the winner, Ombudsman. The gelding is also a group winner in France, but has yet to win beyond a mile.
Completing the field are Corruption, Dashman, and Astronomer.
Churchill Downs, Saturday, May 2, 2026, Race 11Entries: Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Corruption (KY) John R. Velazquez 123 Mark E. Casse 15/1 2 2Dashman (KY) Joel Rosario 123 Brian A. Lynch 20/1 3 3Asbury Park (GB) Flavien Prat 123 Chad C. Brown 8/1 4 4Program Trading (GB) Tyler Gaffalione 123 Chad C. Brown 4/1 5 5Mercante (KY) Joseph D. Ramos 123 Brian Knippenberg 12/1 6 6Rhetorical (NY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 123 William Walden 5/2 7 7Gold Phoenix (IRE) Hector Isaac Berrios 123 Philip D'Amato 10/1 8 8Astronomer (KY) Javier Castellano 123 Simon Callaghan 30/1 9 9Test Score (KY) Manuel Franco 123 H. Graham Motion 7/2 10 10Make Me King (FR) Jose L. Ortiz 123 H.A. Al Jehani 6/1
