Churchill Downs Stakes Advances: Grade I Winner Explora Headlines $300,000 Dogwood Stakes Presented by Resolute Racing

Sep 12, 2026

Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman’s Grade I winner Explora will face five fellow 3-year-old fillies that entered next Saturday’s 51st running of the $300,000 Dogwood Stakes presented by Resolute Racing (Grade III), one of three stakes on the Downs After Dark program at Churchill Downs.

Run at seven furlongs, the Dogwood Stakes shares the Saturday spotlight with the $300,000 Harrods Creek and $200,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes (Listed). First post is 6 p.m. (all times Eastern) with the Dogwood field going to post at 9:39 p.m. in Race 8.

Explora, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, scored an impressive five-length victory in last month’s Test Stakes (GI) at Saratoga. As a 2-year-old, Explora won the Oak Leaf (GII) before finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI). She began her 3-year-old campaign by winning the seven-furlong Santa Ynez (Listed), then stretched out around two turns and won the Honeybee (GIII) prior to a fourth-place finish in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI). In June, Baffert returned Explora to one turn where she won the Leslie’s Lady (Listed), a prep for the Aug. 8 Test. Jockey Juan Hernandez will have the riding assignment in Saturday’s race and will break from the rail.

Other accomplished fillies entered in the Dogwood include Double 22 Stables’ Grade II winner A Fine Chardonnay along with Juddmonte’s Audubon Oaks winner Conceit.

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

Explora (Juan Hernandez, Baffert)
My Steel Magnolia (Cristian Torres, Caio Caramori)
Where Luck Lives (Tyler Gaffalione, Brian Lynch)
Conceit (Mario Gutierrez, Brad Cox)
Movie Night (Axel Concepcion, Will Walden)
A Fine Chardonnay (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ian Wilkes)
Saturday’s Downs After Dark at Churchill Downs will have fans raising a stein in celebration of Oktoberfest. The evening includes German-inspired food and drink specials as part of the Prost & Smokhaus VIP package; live music on the Paddock Terrace Overlook, a National Anthem performance by the German American Club; and a beer wagon photo-op on the first floor.

For tickets and more information, visit www.churchilldowns.com.

MAXFIELD RUNNER-UP AMERICAN MAN LEADS WIDE OPEN $300,000 HARRODS CREEK – Gervais Racing’s Maxfield Stakes (Grade III) runner-up American Man leads a wide-open field of six 3-year-olds entered in next Saturday’s sixth running of the $300,000 Harrods Creek at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Dallas Stewart, American Man has only finished outside the top three once in five starts when he ran fourth in the Amsterdam Stakes (GII) at Saratoga. A speedy son of Maclean’s Music, American Man easily won a first-level allowance at Churchill Downs in late May, then finished second one month later to Deep Flame in the Maxfield Stakes. American Man will be ridden in Saturday’s race by Cristian Torres and break from post No. 2.

The Harrods Creek field also includes Trade Winds Farm’s Ellis Park Derby (Listed) third-place finisher Stop the Car; Tagermeen Racing’s recent Saratoga allowance winner Tagermeen; and Pin Oak Stud’s two-time winner Gilded Banded.

The complete lineup for the Harrods Creek in order of post position (with jockey and trainer):

Gilded Bandit (Luan Machado, Bill Mott)
American Man (Torres, Stewart)
Stop the Car (Brian Hernandez Jr., Brendan Walsh)
Tagermeen (Jaime Torres, Steve Asmussen)
Creole Chrome (Axel Concepcion, Joe Sharp)
Doublecents (Francisco Arrieta, Brett Creighton)
The Harrods Creek goes as Race 6 with a post time of 8:30 p.m., first post is 6 p.m.

JUDDMONTE’S GRADE II WINNER CONSEQUENT TOPS $200,000 SENECA OVERNIGHT STAKES – Juddmonte’s 2025 Starlet (Grade II) winner Consequent leads a compact field of six 3-year-old fillies that entered Saturday’s sixth running of the $200,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes (Listed) at Churchill Downs.

The 1 1/16-mile Seneca Overnight Stakes goes as Race 10 on Saturday night’s 11-race card. First post is 6 p.m. with the Seneca Overnight Stakes going to post at 10:40 p.m.

Consequent is slated to make the fourth start of her young career for Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. A homebred daughter of Into Mischief, Consequent scored a one-length victory in the Dec. 26 Starlet Stakes (GII) at Los Alamitos, then went on the sidelines until mid-July when she won a conditioned allowance event at Ellis Park. Jockey Juan Hernandez has the mount in Saturday’s affair from post No. 3.

Also entered in the race is C R K Stable’s multiple graded stakes placed A. P.’s Girl; Richard Bahde’s two-time winner and multiple stakes placed Knickeandime; and Emory Hamilton’s recent Saratoga allowance winner Answered Prayers.

The field for the Seneca Overnight Stakes rom the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

Woodstock (Ben Curtis, Joe Sharp)
Answered Prayers (Jaime Torres, Bill Mott)
Consequent (Juan Hernandez, Baffert)
Knickleandime (Rafael Bejarano, Randy Morse)
A. P.’s Girl (Brian Hernandez Jr., Peter Eurton)
In Total Awe (Axel Concepcion, Al Stall Jr.)
DOWN THE STRETCH – Saturday’s 11-race card got underway at 12:45 p.m. and featured a $9,961 carryover in the 20-cent Derby City 6 Jackpot that spanned Races 6-11. The Super Hi-5 had a $8,702 carryover in Race 1 and the Jackpot 8 carryover stood at $349,036 in Race 11. … The main track was labeled as “good” for training Saturday morning but upgraded to “fast” by first post. The turf was labeled as “firm” with the rail in Lane 1. … For the latest information about the Churchill Downs September Meet, visit www.churchilldowns.com.