BECKMAN-TRAINED TOUR PLAYER RETURNS TO ACTION IN HANSHIN

Churchill Downs stakes previews by track’s publicity team (Coady Media/Andrew Stauffacher photo of Tour Player winning the Knicks Go)

Hanshin One of Four Stakes on Closing Day Along with Maxfield, Bashford Manor and Debutante

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Sunday, June 21, 2026) – Grahm Grace Stables’ Knicks Go Stakes (Listed) winner Tour Player returns to action next Sunday at Churchill Downs where he’ll face a high-caliber field of 10 milers entered in the 73^rd running of the $300,000 Hanshin Stakes presented by JRA (Grade III), one of four stakes races on closing day of the 2026 Spring Meet.

          The Hanshin, carded as Race 10 of 11 with a post time of 5:28 p.m. (all times Eastern), shares the Sunday spotlight with the $250,000 Maxfield (GIII), $225,000 Bashford Manor (Listed) and $225,000 Debutante (Listed). First post is 12:45 p.m.

          Trained by Whit Beckman, Tour Player cruised to a 2 ½-length victory in the Knicks Go Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day while defeating Moonlight and Dragoon Guard. A 5-year-old son of American Pharoah, Tour Player’s 12-race career includes six victories and one third place finish. He’ll be ridden in the Knicks Go byFlavien Prat out of post No. 10.

          The Hanshin field also includes several other accomplished horses such as SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Bashor Racing, Robert Masterson, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan and Tom Ryan’s multiple graded stakes winner Imagination; Doubledown Stables’ Oaklawn Mile (GIII) winner Nu What’s New; Donna Wright and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s Churchill Downs Stakes (GI) third-place finisher Crazy Mason; and Norman Stables’ 2025 Rebel Stakes (GII) winner Coal Battle. 

          The field for the Hanshin Stakes from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

• Moonlight (Geroux, Chris Block)
• Neoequos (Francisco Arrieta, Saffie Joseph Jr.)
• Owen Almighty (John Velazquez, Brian Lynch)
• Imagination (Flavien Prat, Bob Baffert)
• Dragoon Guard (Irad Ortiz Jr., Brad Cox)
• Hall of Fame (Jose Ortiz, Steve Asmussen)
• Crazy Mason (Junior Alvarado, Gregg Sacco)
• Nu What’s New (Luis Saez, Jimmy DiVito)
• Coal Battle (Corey Lanerie, Lonnie Briley)
• Tour Player (Gaffalione, Beckman)

          Sunday’s closing day card will feature mandatory payouts in the Derby City 6 Jackpot, all Pick 5s and all Super Hi 5s. To watch and wager on all the action, visit twinspires.com. 

GRADE I WINNER BRANT HEADLINES $250,000 MAXFIELD STAKES – Zedan Racing Stables’ Grade I winner Brant will test seven fellow 3-year-olds entered in next Sunday’s fifth running of the $250,000 Maxfield Stakes (Grade III) at Churchill Downs.

          Run at seven furlongs, the Maxfield Stakes goes as Race 9 with a post time of 4:56 p.m. First post is 12:45 p.m.

          Trained by Bob Baffert, Brant turned heads as a 2-year-old when he impressively broke his maiden at first asking by 5 ¼ lengths and parlayed that victory into a one-length score in the Del Mar Futurity (GI). Following a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI), Brant made his 3-year-old debut in the San Felipe (GII) where he finished a disappointing sixth as the 4-5 favorite. Jockey Flavien Prat has the mount in the Maxfield from post No. 4.

          Prat will attempt to win his second-consecutive Maxfield Stakes after winning last year’s edition withResolute Racing’s Verifier.

          The Maxfield also includes Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher and Hooties Racing’s stakes winner Crown the Buckeye; Juddmonte’s dominant maiden winner Deep Flame; and two recent local allowance winners: Gervais Racing’s American Man and Flying Dutchmen’s Prize Pick.

          The field for the Maxfield Stakes from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

• Igniter (John Velazquez, Rick Dutrow)
• Spun D M C (Martin Garcia, Randy Morse)
• Oscar’s Hope (Junior Alvarado, Kinnon LaRose)
• Brant (Prat, Baffert)
• American Man (Cristian Torres, Dallas Stewart)
• Prize Pick (Luis Saez, Brian Lynch)
• Deep Flame (Irad Ortiz Jr., Brad Cox)
• Crown the Buckeye (Jose Ortiz, Mike Maker)

The Maxfield Stakes honors Godolphin’s homebred Maxfield, who boasted a record of 8-2-1 in 11 starts with earnings of $2,001,812 while competing in 2019-21 under the care of trainer Brendan Walsh. Maxfield, a Kentucky-bred son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, was a two-time Grade I winner. He won the 2019 Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at age 2 and won his career finale in the $750,000 Clark presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) at Churchill Downs in 2021. Maxfield is the first horse to sweep Churchill Downs’ Alysheba, Stephen Foster and Clark in a calendar year. For that matter, he’s also the first horse to win both the Stephen Foster and Clark in the same year.

IMPRESSIVE DEBUT WINNER HEY TUFF GUY LEADS $225,000 BASHFORD MANOR – Big Cat Racing’s dominant debut winner Hey Tuff Guy leads a field of nine 2-year-olds entered in next Sunday’s 125^thrunning of the $225,000 Bashford Manor Stakes (Listed), one of four stakes on the 11-race closing day program at Churchill Downs.

          Run at six furlongs, the Bashford Manor Stakes will go as the afternoon’s eighth race with a post time of 4:25 p.m. First post is 12:45 p.m.

          Hey Tuff Guy, trained by Brian Lynch, romped by 7 ¾ lengths on debut at Churchill Downs under Mario Gutierrez while earning a solid 85 Brisnet Speed Rating. A son of freshman sire Life Is Good, Hey Tuff Guy was a $120,000 OBS March Sale purchase by Lynch. He’ll break from post No. 8 with Gutierrez back in the irons.

          The field for the Bashford Manor from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

• Super Saiyajin (Gerardo Corrales, Sergio Donjuan)
• Tigrado (Evin Roman, Michel Douaihy)
• Call Me Micky J. (Irad Ortiz Jr., John Salzman Jr.)
• Sargent Bilko (Jose Ortiz, Eddie Kenneally)
• Captain Luke (Keith Asmussen, Steve Asmussen)
• Tolstoy (Flavien Prat, Brendan Walsh)
• He Is No Lie (Emisael Jaramillo, Doug O’Neill)
• Hey Tuff Guy (Gutierrez, Lynch)
• Blessed Flyer (Brian Hernandez Jr., Mike Tomlinson)

The Bashford Manor was named for the former Louisville Thoroughbred breeding and racing farm that dominated the American race scene in the early 1900s. George J. Long, a wealthy foundry owner, purchased Bashford Manor Farm in 1887 and developed his Thoroughbred operation that provided him two Derby wins as an owner, 1892 and 1906, and three as a breeder, 1892, 1899 and 1906. In addition, Bashford Manor also won the Kentucky Oaks with Selika in 1894 and Kathleen in 1915. The original Wilder family owned Bashford Manor. The Wilders were direct descendants of Lord Baltimore, whose English home was also called Bashford Manor. Long died in 1930 and the farm was eventually sold in 1973 to make way for the development of a mall complex, fittingly named Bashford Manor, that formally closed in 2003. 

ASMUSSEN SEEKS SIXTH VICTORY IN $225,000 DEBUTANTE STAKES – Trainer Steve Asmussen will attempt to win his sixth $225,000 Debutant Stakes (Listed) at Churchill Downs when Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Epic Reign leads a competitive group of nine 2-year-old fillies in next Sunday’s 125^th edition of the six-furlong race.

          Epic Reign, a homebred daughter of the Asmussen-trained Epicenter, won at first asking by 4 ¼ lengths in a May 28 maiden special weight contest at Churchill Downs. The filly will exit post No. 3 with Keith Asmussen in the saddle.

          The Debutante field also includes two local maiden special weight winners: Tracy Farmer’s Pierette and Arindel’s Valkyrie along with Repole Stable’s Gulfstream Park first-out winner True Blessing.

The lineup for the Debutante Stakes from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

• The Stork Club (Jeiron Barbosa, Jerry Robb)
• Pierette (Jose Ortiz, Mark Casse)
• Epic Reign (Keith Asmussen, Steve Asmussen)
• True Blessing (Flavien Prat, Anthony Sciametta Jr.)
• Valkyrie (Declan Cannon, Kenny McPeek)
• Lack of Riesling (Irad Ortiz Jr., Phil D’Amato)
• Free Closer (Florent Geroux, Michael McCarthy)
• Sr Seventyone (Julien Leparoux, Corie Anderson)
• Liberty Rings (Miguel Vazquez, Nicholas Palmer)

The Debutante goes as Race 7 with a post time of 3:53 p.m., first post is 12:45 p.m.

DOWN THE STRETCH – Sunday’s Father’s Day program at Churchill Downs got underway at 12:45 p.m. and featured a $114,476 carryover in the 20-cent Derby City 6 Jackpot beginning in Race 6. … Following Dark Days Monday and Tuesday, live racing resumes Wednesday for the start of Closing Week of the 2026 Spring Meet. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.churchilldowns.com.