Kenny McPeek's Kentucky Derby Tattoo Wants Stephen Foster Stakes Picks

Kenny McPeek posed with Mystik Dan after his Kentucky Derby win, what does he think of his new tattoo? (Image on right via Clare Grant-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

Kenny McPeek is a diehard Kentucky fan, but he just pulled a Rick Pitino.

During his time at Louisville, Pitino vowed to get a tattoo if the Cards won a title. He paid up on that promise and it produced a photo Big Blue Nation mocked, even more so once that banner was removed.

Like Pitino, McPeek had never been inked, but he said that would change if he ever won a Kentucky Derby. Last year, he trained Kentucky Derby 150 winner Mystik Dan, capping off the Oaks-Derby Double after Thorpedo Anna was victorious on the first Friday in May.

ICYMI – @KennyMcPeek recently got his first tattoo! 👀 😆

Check it out and be on the lookout for a full interview about Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna! 🎤 @AshleyAnd502 pic.twitter.com/cbJtND3z7T
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) June 25, 2025

McPeek’s Oaks winner is one of the many talented thoroughbreds who will be featured in a star-studded closing weekend at Churchill Downs. Thorpedo Anna is looking to bounce back in the Grade II Fleur de Lis after finishing last on this year’s Kentucky Derby undercard. It’s one of four stakes races on Saturday beneath the Twin Spires.

Stephen Foster Stakes Pick

The other horse immortalized on McPeek’s right arm will be racing in the featured race on Saturday. The Grade I Stephen Foster Stakes has a $1 million purse, and the winner is automatically entered into the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

The 7-horse field is loaded. Each horse has an average lifetime of $3.7 million in career earnings, which is estimated to be a U.S. record in horse racing.

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Mystik Dan is entering the Stephen Foster one month after he recorded his first win since that Kentucky Derby victory. It was deja vu all over again as Brian Hernandez cut the corner in an impressive win at Churchill Downs in the GIII Blame Stakes. McPeek’s horse is 3-1 on the morning line.

Like Mystik Dan, Mindframe enters the race coming off of a win at Churchill Downs. Todd Pletcher’s horse was the winner of the most exciting race on Kentucky Derby day, closing hard and winning by a neck in a four-horse photo finish.

Sierra Leone lost to Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby, but the closer was victorious in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic. He finished third at Fair Grounds in his only race of 2025.

Brad Cox has two horses in the field. Hit Show was victorious in his 2025 debut at the Dubai World Cup, but the horse I’ll be playing in the Stephen Foster is First Mission. It’s not because the horse won by two lengths in his last start. He’s got arguably the best jockey in the U.S., Luis Saez, and he’s coming from post position No. 1, which has been winning at a 34% clip. The Churchill Downs surface has been hot. Speed is winning big as horses have approached track records over the last week. First Mission is a frontrunner who could get the lead early and run away from a field full of closers.

Win Bet: 1 First Mission