Seeking the Soul earned an expense-paid berth in the Breeders' Cup Classic by winning Saturday night's Grade 2, $600,000 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs - a Win and You're In Breeders' Cup qualifier.

Under John Velazquez, Seeking the Soul advanced up on the inside on the second turn of the 1 1/8-mile Foster, and once angled out into the clear, had the reserves necessary to run down a gritty runner-up in Quip. He completed the distance in 1:49.27.

Tom's d'Etat, the early pacesetter, held third and favored Gift Box was a wide fourth.

Seeking the Soul ($11.20), second in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last year, is a 6-year-old son of Perfect Soul trained by Dallas Stewart and owned by Charles Fipke.

Marty McGee will have a full recap of the Stephen Foster shortly at drf.com.