The undeveloped Stephen Foster

Continuing to browse charts from 1996, I'm surprised to see that the Stephen Foster, although a grade II, wasn't really an important race yet, featuring a purse of just $150,000. The winner completely eludes me: Tenants Harbor. He was followed by Pleasant Tango and Mt. Sassafras, who did at least put a scare into Alphabet's Soup, Louis Quatorze, and Cigar in that year's Breeders' Cup Classic, and go on to win the Donn. The 1.10-1 favorite in the '96 Foster was Knockadoon, whom I remember best for a medication controversy following the Wood Memorial one year. The first big Foster I remember was when Awesome Again beat Silver Charm, and this turns out to follow the purse increase, with the value to the winner going up nearly five times from 1997 to 1998. I can't remember what the circumstances were there. Usually, when there's such a purse increase, there's a sponsor involved, but the Foster doesn't sport one in its name, at least not today. If the money for the Foster was increased just on account of Silver Charm's running, Churchill decided the purse increase was a good idea, because they've maintained it (or close to maintained it) ever since.