BY CHURCHILL DOWNS PRESS OFFICE

FMQ Stables’ Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown is set to face an accomplished field of eight horses that entered next Sunday’s 72nd running of the $300,000 Hanshin presented by JRA (Listed), one of five stakes contests on closing day of the 43-day Spring Meet at Churchill Downs.

The Hanshin, run at one mile as race eight of 11, will share the Sunday spotlight with the $250,000 Maxfield (Listed); $225,000 Bashford Manor (Listed); $225,000 Debutante (Listed); and $175,000 Anchorage Overnight Stakes.

Post time for the Hanshin is 4:23 p.m. EDT.

Saudi Crown, a striking 5-year-old gray son of Always Dreaming, sports an impressive resumé with seven wins from 15 starts, banking more than $3.4 million in purses. Trained by Brad Cox, Saudi Crown enters the Hanshin following a gutsy victory over Kentucky Derby 150 hero Mystik Dan in the Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn. Prior to that victory, Saudi Crown was victorious as a 4-year-old in the Louisiana Stakes (Grade 3) and Tenacious Stakes (Listed) at Fair Grounds and the R. A. “Cowboy” Jones Stakes at Ellis Park. Arguably the biggest win of his career came as a 3-year-old when he won the Pennsylvania Derby (Gr. 1). Jockey Florent Geroux will have the mount in the Hanshin and the duo will break from post four.

Florida-bred Cagliostro has compiled three wins from sixteen career starts with earnings of $542,067, establishing himself as a graded stakes competitor across multiple circuits. After breaking his maiden at Fair Grounds in January 2023, the five-year-old gelding quickly progressed through the ranks with notable performances including a second in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones Stakes and a victory in the 2024 Hanshin Stakes. 

The bay gelding has demonstrated international scope in 2025, competing in Dubai at Meydan Racecourse with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Firebreak Stakes in January. While his recent form shows just one third-place finish from two starts this year, his career record includes consistent placings at the graded level, with appearances in prestigious races like the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and the Grade 1 Forego Stakes. 

By Upstart out of A Rosefor Isabelle, the 5-year-old Cagliostro was bred by Lance Colwell and Janice Clark in Florida. He commanded $385,000 as a two-year-old at the OBS April sale, purchased by trainer Cherie DeVaux as agent, and now races for Wathnan Racing.
(Cagliostro’s Under Tack Video)

Also entered in the race is Lawrence Roman and David Jacobson’s seven-time winner Banishing. A 5-year-old gelded son of Ghostzapper, Banishing scored a one-length victory earlier this year in the Oaklawn Mile (Gr. 3) and ran a valiant second to Mindframe in the Churchill Downs Stakes (Gr. 1) on Kentucky Derby Day. Jose Ortiz will ride from post one.

The field for the Hanshin from the rail out (with jockey and trainer) includes: Banishing (Jose Ortiz, Jacobson); Judge Miller (Antonio Fresu, Mark Glatt); Best Actor (Mario Gutierrez, Ed Moger Jr.); Saudi Crown (Geroux, Cox); Tumbarumba (Luis Saez, Brian Lynch); Extra Anejo (Flavien Prat, Steve Asmussen); Will Take It (Brian Hernandez Jr., Dallas Stewart); and Cagliostro (Irad Ortiz Jr., DeVaux).

Steve Koch contributed to this story.

Return to the June 27 issue of Wire to Wire