Epic Ride to make turf debut in Mighty Beau
Churchill Downs stakes advance and barn notes by publicist Kevin Kerstein (Jennie Rees photo o Epic Ride and trainer John Ennis at The Thoroughbred Center)
LOUISVILLE, KY (Saturday, May 31, 2025) – Welch Racing’s speedy 4-year-old colt Epic Ride is set to try turf for the first time in his 13-race career when he faces nine rivals in next Saturday’s ninth running of the $225,000 Mighty Beau Stakes (Listed) at Churchill Downs.
The five-furlong Mighty Beau is the featured 10th race on Saturday’s 11-race card. First post is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) with the Mighty Beau field scheduled to go to post at 5:27 p.m.
Trained by John Ennis, Epic Ride has recorded four career victories, all over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park. The son of Blame finished 14th in Kentucky Derby 150 before cutting back in distance for the rest of his 3-year-old season and into his 4-year-old campaign. He enters the Mighty Beau off a runner-up effort to Booth in the Maryland Sprint Stakes (GIII) on Preakness Day at Pimlico. Brian Hernandez Jr. will ride from post No. 5.
Also entered in the Mighty Beau is Champlin, a four-time winner owned by Murray and Sherilynn House and trained by Greg Foley. Like Epic Ride, Champlin will also make his turf debut Saturday. A 5-year-old gelded son of Ransom the Moon, Champlin was second to Fort Bragg in the St. Matthews Stakes on Thurby, his first start of 2025. As a 4-year-old, Champlin won an allowance race at Churchill Downs and was runner-up to Gulfport in the Bet On Sunshine Stakes. Edgar Morales has the mount from the rail.
The field for the Mighty Beau also includes multiple graded stakes-winning veteran Arrest Me Red; William Walker Stakes winner Joe Shiesty; Carle Place Stakes winner Run Carson; and Woodford Stakes (GII) runner-up Charcoal.
The complete lineup for the Mighty Beau from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):
- Champlin (Morales, Foley)
- Arrest Me Red (Corey Lanerie, Wesley Ward)
- Run Carson (Adam Beschizza, Kelsey Danner)
- Doncho (Jaime Torres, Michelle Lovell)
- Epic Ride (Hernandez, Ennis)
- Lunar Module (Julien Leparoux, Jordan Blair)
- Joe Shiesty (Luan Machado, Eric Foster)
- Balsa (James Graham, Aaron Shorter)
- All Jokes Aside (Sophie Doyle, Anna Meah)
- Charcoal (Rafael Bejarano, Tracey Wisner)
DOWN THE STRETCH – Saturday’s Stephen Foster Preview Day card got underway at 12:45 p.m. and featured an all-stakes sequence for the 20-cent Derby City 6 Jackpot, which had a carryover of $63,498 beginning in Race 6. … Most Wanted, Best Actor and Katonah all scratched from Saturday’s $275,000 Blame Stakes (GIII) and are likely to run in Race 7 on Sunday in a one-mile allowance contest. … Cameo Performance was scratched from Saturday’s $275,000 Arlington Stakes (GIII) and was re-entered in Thursday’s $300,000 Poker Stakes (GIII) at Saratoga. … Saturday’s work tab featured several stakes winners including Highland Falls (five furlongs, 1:00.80); Highway Robber (five furlongs, 1:00.80); Immersive (five furlongs, 1:01); Just a Touch (five furlongs, :58.80) and Shisospicy (four furlongs, :47.60). … Jockey Gerardo Corrales was off his lone mount Saturday due to an elbow injury. … For more information about the Spring Meet, visit www.churchilldowns.com.
