Magnitude was 7-2 in U.S. betting when he defeated Forever Young in the Dubai World Cup in March. He was 5-2 when he beat Sovereignty in the Stephen Foster Stakes on Saturday. The next time he runs in a big race, he might have to be favored.
After breaking through the Churchill Downs starting gate and being reloaded, 4-year-old Magnitude ($7.16) started well and led every step of a muddy 1-1/8 miles with jockey Jose Ortiz to win the $2 million, Grade I Stephen Foster with Baeza coming on to finish second, favorite Sovereignty a non-threatening third and White Abarrio fourth in a five-horse field.
“Eleven thousand two hundred sixty-six wins,” trainer Steve Asmussen said, reciting his American-record career total. “First win that came after they broke through. What a special horse.”
The race was seen as the strongest in North America in 2026, matching Magnitude, White Abarrio and Sovereignty, Nos. 2-3-4 – behind Nysos — in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll.
Sovereignty, the 2025 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner and Horse of the Year, went off at 4-5 and looked like a threat on the outside but lost steam in the stretch to drop to 0-2 in 2026. Baeza, now Sovereignty’s stablemate with trainer Bill Mott, started last but rallied to get second. White Abarrio faded from second to fourth.
Asmussen, with the Oct. 31 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland as his goal, indicated in a TV interview that he would send Magnitude on the path that his 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner took to victory in the Classic at Del Mar. That would mean Magnitude makes his next start in the Aug. 8 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.
Kevin Modesti reported from California.