Churchill Downs Stakes Recap & Quotes: The Churchill Downs

May 03, 2025 Kevin Kerstein

Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Mindframerallied eight wide in the stretch to run down Nysos and a surging Banishing by a neck in the shadow of the wire to win the 90th running of the $1 million Churchill Downs Presented by Ford (GI) Saturday afternoon.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Mindframe completed the seven furlongs over a sloppy track in 1:22.64. It is the third victory in the race for Pletcher with previous scores coming in 2011 in Aikenite and 2004 with Speightstown.

Giant Mischief set a contested pace with Hoist the Gold, Here Mi Song and Mullikin in closest pursuit. Leaving the far turn, Mullikin surged up four wide to take the lead with favored Nysos rolling right behind him and to their inside Book’em Danno making a bid.

At the sixteenth pole, Book’em Danno took a brief lead with Nysos bearing down from the outside, Banishing splitting horses to the inside and Mindframe rallying widest of all to get the money in the final strides.

Mindframe is a 4-year-old Maryland-bred son of Constitution out of the Street Sense mare Walk of Stars. Runner-up in the Belmont Stakes (GI) and Haskell (GI) last year, Mindframe has won four of six starts with a 2025 kickoff victory in the Gulfstream Park Mile (GII) on March 1.

Mindframe returned $9.08, $3.66 and $3.18. Banishing, with Jose Ortiz up, returned $3.10 and $3.78 with Nysos returning $2.36 and $3.10 under Flavien Prat.

It was a head back to Book’em Danno with Mullikin another length back with Just Steel, Tejano Twist, Hoist the Gold, Giant Mischief, Extra Anejo and Here Mi Song following in order.

CHURCHILL DOWNS QUOTES

Irad Ortiz Jr. (Jockey, Mindframe,winner) – “My horse was so game today. He had so many horses to the inside of him that he just had to keep fighting the entire way to the wire. He does not want to lose and kept finding more the more challenges he got.”

Todd Pletcher (Trainer, Mindframe, winner) – “I told Irad just to ride with confidence and it looks like he did exactly that. He's such a versatile horse. From just missing last year in the Belmont and now winning a Grade 1 going seven-eighths. It just shows how special of a horse he is.”

Flavien Prat (Jockey, Nysos, dead-heat second) – “He ran great. The trip was good. I thought when I had that horse outside of me, I thought the hardest part was done, but then Mindframe came on the outside and nailed us. It was a good run and he hasn't run for over a year.”

Jose Ortiz (Jockey, Banishing, dead-heat second) – “Leaving the gate, I thought I would squeeze out of there between the 1 (Just Steel) and the 3 (Book’em Danno). I knew, coming from the (mile) chute, I had to be a little aggressive out of there, so that complicated things for me a little bit. I was a little further (back) than I wanted to, but I think the horse ran amazing race I think I rode the best horse today.”