West Coast horses normally do not leave Del Mar and ship cross country for a Saratoga Race Course turf stakes.
But Johannes is not your typical turf horse.
A finalist for the Eclipse Award as the outstanding male turf horse a year ago, he will make his long-awaited 2025 debut Aug. 2 in the $750,000 Fourstardave Stakes (G1T) at the Spa, a race that could provide him with a return trip to the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) at Del Mar.
"It's a grade 1. It's a 'Win and You're In' and we thought we'd take advantage of those opportunities," trainer Tim Yakteen said.
As a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event, the winner of the mile Fourstardave will get a free, automatic spot in the Mile, which was the lone blemish on the son of Nyquist 's 2024 record. He finished second to More Than Looks by three-quarters of a length at Del Mar in the World Championships.
WATCH: Yakteen on Johannes' First Day at Saratoga
A homebred owned by Cuyathy LLC, he closed out the year with a victory in the San Gabriel Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park but came out of his fifth win in six 2024 starts with bone bruising that required a few months off and allowed Yakteen to patiently train him for an abbreviated 5-year-old campaign.
"Everything's been uneventful and he's doing super," Yakteen said. "We'll find out if he's 100% but he's doing exceptionally well."
While the ultimate goal is the Breeders' Cup back home at Del Mar, Yakteen says he'll take it one race at a time to the get the son of the Congrats mare Cuyathy there.
"Last year we had a pretty defined plan, but we'll take it one step at a time," Yakteen said. "I imagine we'll have only one more race after this before the Breeders' Cup."
The field of 10 for Saturday's grade 1 stakes also includes a duo for trainer Chad Brown, who won the Fourstardave for the first time last year with Carl Spackler.
Brown will send out grade 1 winner Spirit of St Louis, who is coming off an infrequent subpar performance, and Intellect, who is seeking an initial graded stakes win.
Owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and Richard Schermerhorn, Spirit of St Louis never fired as a 9-5 favorite in the June 8 Manhattan Stakes (G1T) at the Spa, which came on the heels of his triumph in the Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) at Churchill Downs.
"The only thing that concerns me is I haven't seen his best numbers (speed figures) at Saratoga. Dry or soft," Brown said about the son of Medaglia d'Oro . "He's run some nice races here, but in looking at his entire body of work, he hasn't run his fastest at Saratoga."
Intellect, a son of Intello owned by Madaket, Dubb, and Steven Bouchey, started his career in France before he was bought and given a year off. In three 2025 United States starts for Brown, he has two seconds and a third, including a length loss last time out when second in the Kelso Stakes (G3T) at the Spa.
"He's doing good. He was just a little too close to the pace last time," Brown said.
The field also includes St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker, and Vicarage Stable's Deterministic, a Liam's Map colt who won the Manhattan to give trainer Miguel Clement his first grade 1 win since taking over the stable of his late father, Christophe, who died May 25.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 2, 2025, Race 8Entries: FanDuel Fourstardave S. (G1T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Cugino (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Claude R. McGaughey III 10/1 2 2My Boy Prince (ON) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Mark E. Casse 15/1 3 3Johannes (KY) Umberto Rispoli 126 Tim Yakteen 5/2 4 4Think Big (KY) Luis Saez 124 Michael Stidham 6/1 5 5Win for the Money (KY) Dylan Davis 126 Mark E. Casse 8/1 6 6Intellect (FR) Flavien Prat 122 Chad C. Brown 5/1 7 7Spirit of St Louis (NY) Manuel Franco 126 Chad C. Brown 6/1 8 8Deterministic (KY) Kendrick Carmouche 126 Miguel Clement 9/2 9 9Lagynos (KY) Joel Rosario 122 Steven M. Asmussen 20/1 10 10Neat (KY) Junior Alvarado 122 Rob Atras 20/1
