About the race
The Churchill Downs Stakes presented by Ford is run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It is a Grade I race over seven furlongs on dirt for four-year-olds and upwards. In both 2025 and 2026 it was run on the Kentucky Derby undercard with a USD 1,000,000 purse, and Churchill Downs described the 2026 race as the 91st running.
The 90th running, on 3 May 2025, was won by Mindframe for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. He rallied eight wide to win by a neck in 1:22.64 on a sloppy track, and Churchill Downs reported it as Pletcher’s third win in the race. The IFHA rated the race at 118.75. Mindframe went on to win the Stephen Foster Stakes. On 2 May 2026, Tomoya Ozasa’s T O Elvis, trained by Daisuke Takayanagi and ridden by Ryusei Sakai, won by 3 1/4 lengths in a stakes-record 1:20.49.
The 2025 running
| Date | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 May 2025 | Mindframe | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Todd Pletcher | Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable |
From the official result.
The 2026 running
| Date | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 May 2026 | T O Elvis | Ryusei Sakai | Daisuke Takayanagi | Tomoya Ozasa |
From the official result.
Recognition and facts
- Race day
- Kentucky Derby day (3 May 2025 and 2 May 2026)
- Stakes record
- 1:20.49, T O Elvis (2026)
- 2026 running
- 91st
- IFHA 2025 rating
- 118.75 (rank 41)
Questions readers ask
When is the Churchill Downs Stakes run?
It was run on Kentucky Derby day in 2025 (3 May) and 2026 (2 May). Churchill Downs had not published a 2027 date for the race by 12 October 2026.
What is the prize fund of the Churchill Downs Stakes?
USD 1,000,000 in 2026, the same as in 2025.
Who won the Churchill Downs Stakes in 2025?
Mindframe, owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., won on 3 May 2025.
Sources
The rank and rating are from the IFHA's LONGINES World's Top 100 Group/Grade 1 Races 2025, published 21 January 2026, which ranks races by the ratings of their first four finishers. Other facts are from the pages listed below.