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Ep.83-AQHA Challenge Preview 2026- Podcast · StallioneSearch Podcasts

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Quarter horse racing fans, it's time to saddle up and head to New Mexico.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_03: To be specific, we mean the downs at Albuquerque, to be exact, for this weekend's championship night.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_06: It's the AQHA Challenge Championship Night for 2026, and on this episode, we are pouring it on to get you as inundated as much as we can for the five championship races.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's year 34 for the challenge, and this year is stacking up as one of those races we will look back on to talk about for years to come.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_03: So here's the show at the number one quarter horse racing podcast in the country at Quarter Horse Racing Talk Weekly.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_03: And here's your host, Greg Thompson.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_04: And hello again, everyone.com.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_04: And yes, it is that time of the year where it's time to talk about the AQHA Racing Challenge Championship out in Albuquerque.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_04: And each year, for the last three years, we've headed out west from the Dallas area for this championship night there in Albuquerque.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_04: And it will be for the last time for the consecutiveness, as next year's challenge championships are in Grand Prairie, Texas at Lone Star Park.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_04: And as you can imagine it with it being in our backyard here at stallionesearch.com, related that the championship event comes back to the Dallas and Fort Worth area.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: But for this year's championship event, we head out to Albuquerque and let's get talking about it here on the podcast as Yancey and I go over the big five races that night in New Mexico, as well as get several of the folks tied to these big runners on the phone to talk about these speedy quarter horses going forth in this championship night.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_04: Many of the headliners hopping on the podcast this week to talk to us as we give the most expansive preview of this championship night there in Albuquerque.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_04: You'll find anywhere in Quarterhorse Racing.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_04: And here on this episode of Quarter Horse Racing Talk Weekly, we'll do a little bit of a remembrance of the great champion impressum, as well as getting jockey Cody Smith on the phone to talk about one of the most celebrated runners ever to take part in the AQHA Challenge Championship series, and that's Danger, who is the only three-time consecutive winner of the big Grade 1 event in the 34-year history of the Challenge Championship, as well as a little bit of the recap section here towards the tail end of the show.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_04: So a lot of ground to cover and a lot of things to get to, so let's get out of the way and get to the commercials so we can dive right into our featured section as we analyze this year's challenge championships there in Albuquerque.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_03: Introducing the overwhelmingly talented stallion roster of Lazy E Ranch.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_03: A roster that includes Grade 1 Super Derby winner Big Lou, the legendary sire Corona Cartel, the number one second crop sire in the country, Cyber Monday, and one of the all-time leaders in quarter horse racing, first down Dash.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_03: The grade one winning, grade one producing sire, Kiss My Hawks, and his son and grade one winner himself, Kempton.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_03: Another top-leading sire in PYC Pinch Wagon, champion aged stallion Unrelentless, and multiple grade one sire of three champions and five millionaires, Valiant Hero.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_03: And introducing for the 2027 breeding season the Grade 1 winning the Fiscal Cliff.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_03: All these sires, standing at Lazy Range and Guthrie, Oklahoma.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: It's been recorded and measured.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: The simple fact is champions feed Purina, as Purina Horsefeed makes a difference that you can see.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Go to Purinamills.com forward slash horsefeed and pick your product.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Feeding Purina, you will surely see the difference.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: All right, back to the show.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to look back at the history of the Grade 1 Q Racing Video Distance Challenge Championship, as 2026 marks the 34th running of the 870-yard event.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_04: In quite history as it is, as it pertains specifically to the Distance Challenge Championship event, who over the years, 17 winners of this race went on to get up on the stage there in Oklahoma City to be named AQA Shade Distance Challenge Champion.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_04: At the end of the year, as a matter of fact, the last six out of the last seven winners were up there on the stage gathering the trophy.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_04: And several huge names in Distance Horse history have taken part and won this race, including runners like Snowbound Superstar.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_04: Snowbound Superstar in a strong gallop here by a little more than a length.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_04: Who not only won the race in 2007, but also was named 2007 World Champion.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_04: Gone to the Mountain, the 2009 winner, who was also named champion distance horse for 2009.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the world record holder, Gone to the Mountains.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Turn the tables here on Snowbound Superstar Badass finishing third, but Gone to the Mountain.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Very impressive, winning the Red Cell Racing Challenge Distance Championship.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_04: Two-time winner Waskally Whittlewabbit, who won the race in 2021 and was also up there garnering world champion honors.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_13: Waskally Whittle Rabbit looks to have this one won.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_13: It's Waskally Whittle Rabbit getting revenge tonight.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_13: Wins by three over Madewell and Viva LaDon.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_04: And who can forget 2023 as the Grand Legend, towered down the strip there at Lone Star Park, and also won AQHA World Champion Honors.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_05: And as they come to the finish, the horse that qualified here, the Grand Legend, is going to draw off at the Cox Ranch Distance Challenge Championship mod.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_04: And of course, last year's winner, Handing Out Candy, who is also the 2025 AQHA World Champion Distance Horse, looks to defend his title in the 2026 version of this championship event.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_11: They come to the final 110 and handing out candy as well, clear.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_11: And handing out candy and Omar Itaralde to take the Q Racing Video Distance Challenge Championship by two.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_04: Now, some quick facts.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_04: The fastest 870 ran at the AQHA Challenge Championship night happened in 2005.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_04: Prankster CF blistered a 44.10 second time for the 870 yard for trainer Paul Jones.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_04: Another quick fact: the all-time leader in this grade one event in the trainer category is John Steinboat, who is a three-time winner of this 870-yard event.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to hear from the analysts of this grade one 870-yard championship event that carries a record purse for the race at$128,000 for three-year-olds and older, carrying 128 pounds around the hook in the grade one Q Racing Video Distance Challenge Championship.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_14: Yeah, Greg, I went with the five Rocky Later.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_14: This horse last time out was a winner of the regional challenge race at Albuquerque.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_14: Um this horse is in the past has run really good around the hook, and then I kind of thought he had tailed off a little bit this year, um, with a fifth place finish in the Remington Park distance and then a fourth place finish in the Paul's Valley.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_14: But last time out at Albuquerque, he looked really impressive, and he's got Daniel Torres in the irons for Tammy Johnson is the trainer, and if he runs that race back, I think he'll be hard to beat.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_04: The Alabama bread handing out Candy was on an absolute tear.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_04: The first part of this year, Yancy won the Remington Park Distance Challenge trial as well as came back and won the grade two Remington Park Distance Challenge stakes to get into this race, and then came back and run the grade two Paul's Valley.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_04: But since then, ran a second place in the grade one Remington Park Distance Challenge stakes, a third place finish in the allowance, and another third place finish here at the Albuquerque Distance Challenge stakes grade two event.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_04: The horse seems like it's kind of fallen off form.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_14: Yeah, I mean, if this horse runs like he can, he's definitely a top contender.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_14: He is your reigning world champion at 870 yards, but the last couple outside looks like he's almost took a step back instead of peaking.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_04: Another unique thing about this race, Yancy, is the five, six, and seven horses all on the outside, are really the the stacked field of runners going this 870-yard distance, including the six horse firebolt B.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_14: This is another one that he's had a really good campaign at just all year at 870.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_14: You just sometimes don't know which one's gonna come, which horse is gonna show up.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_14: Last time out he was third in the Benny Pimenton Memorial, which is a grade two at Ritama.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_14: But before that, he ran an off-the-board seventh place and a fifth place.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_14: But four starts back, he was a winner at the Sam Houston's distance challenge.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_14: So this is another one.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_14: If he shows up and runs like he can, he's gonna be right there.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_04: And another horse to take a look at is the horse on the outside, the seven horse, and that's I'm out of here, who last time out beat handing out candy, but did finish right behind Rocky Later in the Albuquerque Challenge Championship.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_04: But I will say about this Rocky Later was a long shot going into this field.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_04: Fires at the right time, and Tammy Johnson certainly knows how to train a horse around the hook.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_14: This is an outstanding field, and it's a great way to kick off the challenge championship night.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to look back at the brief history of the Grade 1 Cox Ranch Distaff Challenge Championship, as 2026 marks the 27th running of this 400-yard championship contest for Phillies and Mayors that are three years old and older.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_04: One of the unique things about the history of the Distaff Challenge Championship, the fact it's one of the newer races of the lineup of five.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_04: As mentioned earlier, the 1993 Challenge Championship at Sunland Park began the series back 34 years ago, but the Distaff Challenge Championship did not come about until the year of 2000, with that inaugural year being at Lone Star Park, with a big name runner like Cool Q Baby winning for Steve Van Bever as the first ever Distaff Challenge Championship.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_04: Now, over the years, the Distaff Challenge Championship has had many sponsors, including the Centure Distaff, the Ford Distaff, the John Deere Distaff, the AQHA DisDAF, the Mariel Distaff, the Art Distaff, the Q Racing Video Distaff, and now the Cox Ranch DisDaff Challenge Championship since 2024.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_04: Now, some of the big name runners that have gone down the racetrack and won here in the Distaff, Cool Q Baby, as mentioned earlier, was joined by stylist Jess Br out of the Paul Jones barn, Spit Curl Diva is another pass winner, Frideville.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_04: Check and fetch ran a huge race there at Los Alamitas to win the grade one for Paul Jones.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_04: But the most recent big name runner to go down the racetrack is Lender 16, who won in 2020 under Jockey Berkeley Packer, there in Albuquerque.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_04: Now in 2021, Patty Saint posted a time of 19.15 seconds for the 400 yards to hold the stakes record going into this year's version.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_04: And another unique fact to point out about the history of this race is Stacy Sherrette Hill, who is a two-time winner of this race, as she won in 2017 with Just Paint Your Lips at Prairie Meadows in Iowa, came back five years later in 2022 in Indiana with valiant Miss Priss to win with Christian Esqueto abo, and now has one of the top runners going into this year's version of this Grade 1 event.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_14: The one to look at in this race for me is the eight Ketchin Southern race.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_14: I've been a big fan of this horse all year.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_14: But this horse, we've talked about it in the past.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_14: It's gotta break its pattern.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_14: This horse has six starts, three wins on the year, and every other time it wins.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_14: And it's coming off a win.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_14: It was a winner last time out in the Prairie Meadows regional challenge.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_14: But if you go back three starts, she was a huge winner in the Juno's request stakes at Remington.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_14: So I think Catching Southern Rays has definitely got the talent and the ability to win this race.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_14: It's just she's gotta break her streak.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_14: She's gotta run two good races together.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_14: But she comes out of the Stacy Hill barn, and Stacy always has her horses ready to go, especially Phillies.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_14: So I look for the eight Catching Southern race to be the horse to be.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, the morning line favorite, Yancey, is the five to two JS freight train out of the barn of Sammy Mendoza.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_04: This horse last time out was a winner in the Will Rogers Dis Death Challenge stakes to qualify to get into this field.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_04: Ran a great race there.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_04: The morning line guys has put her down at 5-2, and we were able to get on the phone with trainer Sammy Mendoza to hear about this talented Philly going into this championship event.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_04: Sammy, talk about this talented Philly.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_08: She's come a long way as a four-year.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_08: She's been breaking good, she's been training good.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_08: She just feels right.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_08: We've been prepping her right.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_08: Hopefully, we get a good break and we get a we get that win.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_04: Talk about the win there at Will Rogers in the Distaff Challenge Stakes to qualify to get into this race.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_08: We loaded up from the farm, she loaded up, her attitude was perfect, showed up, did her job.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_08: I mean, that feeling comes from a champion champion Mary, you know.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_08: It's obvious that she has to be that good.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_04: If she bounces out of this race, Sammy, is there another target at the end of this year?
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_08: After this race, if everything comes out good, we're looking to put her in the stake race up there in Zio.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_04: Well, good luck going into the finals here at the Dista there on this weekend at Albuquerque.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_08: Thank you, Greg.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_08: Appreciate it.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_14: Another one that we have to talk about down on the inside is the one flying bandita.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_14: This is another one that doesn't always win, but she's run tough in stakes races all year, and she comes out of top trainer Jason Homestead's barn.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_14: Um last time out, she was second behind Jay's freight train in the Will Rogers disc staff challenge.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_14: Before that, she runs second in the Prairie Meadows disc staff challenge behind catching Southern Rays.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_14: So she's one that's been right there with these top runners, and if she runs her best race, she'll definitely be contending.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: And Yancy, I think another horse we have to take note of is Ohana Spirit, the two horse coming from California, has run two great races back to back, ran a really tough race there in the Millie Vessels, a grade one event to finish fourth.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_04: Before that, won the just af challenge stakes to get into this field, seen a lot of tough horses all year long.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_04: But I like this horse for the simple fact that she just might be the class of the race going into this event.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_04: As John Steinbow takes over the training duties from Juan Aleman, who trains most of the gentry farms horses out there in California when they come over this way.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: John usually is the trainer of this horse.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_04: That's why he's listed as the trainer going into the field here for the Cox DIS staff.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_14: Yeah, Greg, this is another super tough race with lots of competitors in the race.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_14: And this is one thing that's really fun about the challenge championship night is we get to watch these horses all year compete at all their different regional challenge races, and then they all come together to compete at the big night at the end of the year.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_15: And we'll be right back after these words.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_04: News coming from Wayne, Oklahoma at Royal Vista Ranch as Multiple Grade 1 Sire.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_04: One Fabulous Eagle is back to his Oklahoma home, where he began his stallion career at Royal Vista Ranch.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_04: Now a multiple grade one winner with over$10.6 million in progeny earnings.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_04: One Fabulous Eagle brings all that speed, all that class, and his grade one resume back to Oklahoma breeders for the 2027 season.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_04: And you can stop on by Royal Vista Ranch for the Stallion Showcase Week from November the 2nd through November the 7th in Wade, Oklahoma.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_04: As they also stand for 2027, the multiple graded stakes finalist A Political J-Streak, the legendary industry leader Apolitical Jess, the Grade 1 producing FTD Going Grand, the Multiple Stakes Producing Sire, Heart of the Cartel, and the Grade 1 winner Jess Dulce.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_04: All this talent in one spot, there at Royal Vista Ranch in Wayne, Oklahoma.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: A tremendously talented stallion roster of Roboshow Ranch.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_03: Grade 1 producing A Political Blood, Multiple Stakes Sire, and Grade 1 winning Gold Heart Eagle V, the sire of leading 3-year-old beautiful, KV in Corona, AQHA Champion Sire tempting Dash, and the All-American Juvenile winning Visa, all standing in Brobridge, Louisiana.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to look back at the brief history of the Grade 2 John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship, as 2026 marks the 34th running of this 350-yard championship contest.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_04: The John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship is designed to give two-year-olds out there that most of them are not qualifying or going forth in the bigger futurities, really gives them somewhere to point towards to compete at a very high level.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_04: Started in 1993, Blaine Schwannebelt was the first winning trainer out there at Sunland Park with first grade Don, with friend of the show Jeff Williams aboard for a$55,000 purse.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_04: Now that purse, of course, has grown to up to$150,000 at times, with probably the biggest name runner to go down the racetrack and capture the John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship, which is a grade two event, was AJ's High, who won it in 2014, but turned around in 2016 to win the AQHA Challenge Championship as a four-year-old out of Los Alamitas with Stormy Smith aboard for trainer Charlton Hunt.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_04: Now, over the years, the John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship also had plenty of other sponsors.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_04: From 93 to 94, it was called the Wrangler Juvenile Challenge Championship.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_04: It's also been called the AQHA Juvenile Challenge Championship, as well as the American Airlines, as well as the Ford Juvenile Challenge Championship at times.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_04: But since 2009, it has been the John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship, with this year's version and Albuquerque hosting a nice field of runners going forth in this 350-yard event.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: Alright.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to hear from the analysts as the youngsters take part in the Grade 2 350 yard championship event.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: That carries a full field of 10 for a$150,000 purse for two-year-olds carrying 128 pounds in the Grade 2 John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_14: In this race, I thought this race was kind of the most wide open of the challenge races.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_14: Um, but I put down the 10 on top Mysterious Hero as it ships in from Idaho and Utah.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_14: But this horse has put together a pretty good resume.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_14: He's had six starts, three wins, including last time out he was a winner of the Emerald Downs juvenile stakes to get him qualified for this race.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_14: Earlier this year, he was first in the Beehive fraternity at Utah, and then he also was a qualifier to the Grade 3 Bitterroot Fraternity earlier this year.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_04: This truly is an international affair, Yancy is the three-horse.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_04: Great Falls has been running all year long in Canada, qualified into the Century Mile Juvenile Challenge Stakes, and then bounced right back and won the grade three Canadian Cup Fraturity and makes his way down to New Mexico and picks up the training duties of Mark Brown going into the finals here.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_14: Yeah, that's another thing that's really cool about the challenge is the aspect that in some of these races we get to see horses from Canada in years past we saw some Brazil or Mexico bred as well.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_14: Um another top runner in this race is the one.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_14: Um we actually have the top three finishers in the Will Rogers juvenile challenge race coming to this race.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_14: The two John Steinbaut runners in this race finished second and third, and then the one horse won it, and that is uh hard to hop.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_14: This comes out of the barn of Samuel Mendoza, who has top rider Juan Polito in the irons.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_14: This horse runs second in a fraternity trial at Remington early this year.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_14: So he showed some talent, and he looks like he's another top runner in this race.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to look back at a brief history of the Grade 3 Adequan Derby Challenge Championship, as 2026 marks the 34th running of this 400-yard championship event for the three-year-olds.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_04: The Grade 3 Adequan Derby Challenge Championship also has a history all the way back to 1993, this being the 34th year this race has run, dating back to all the way to 1993 at Sunlin when Royal Down Dash crossed the wire in front under Joe Martinez for trainer Jose Dominguez.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: To get started, of listing a bunch of names of horses we recognize in the sport, including like world champion Taylor Fitt, who's a past winner of the Derby Challenge, Dash and By, Just Good Reason, and Just My Hawks, just to name a few, that have been victorious in this Grade 3 event.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_04: And just like several of the other races, it's been known by several different names, including the Sooner Trailer Derby Challenge, the AQHA Derby Challenge, and the Bear Legend Derby Challenge before becoming the Adequin Derby Challenge in 2010.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to hear from the analysts as the three year olds take part in the Grade 3, 400 yard championship event that carries a full field of 10 for a$175,000 purse for the three-year-olds, carrying 128 pounds in the Grade 3 Ataquon Derby Challenge Championship.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yancy the Four Horse here, Margaret's Cowboy, is the 5-2 morning line favorite, winner of the Altoona Derby last time out, won the Prairie Meadows Derby Challenge Stakes, as well as being stakes place in the Mr.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_04: Master Bug stakes earlier in the year.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_04: This horse looks to be the class of the field going into this race, has earned over a hundred thousand dollars this year on the racetrack and has the training duties of John Hamus going forth for this big race.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_14: Yeah, Margaret's cowboy, he's kind of went into his own at Iowa this year.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_14: And I agree with you.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_14: He looks like he's kind of the horse to beat, but down on the inside, the one horse, notorious, is another top runner in this field.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_14: He has seven starts, four wins on the year.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_14: This is another winner of the two regional races at Will Rogers.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_14: He was first in the Derby Challenge there.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_14: Two starts back, this horse was first in the Glips County Fair Derby.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_14: But the thing that I put down is probably the most impressive to me.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_14: He wasn't a winner, but earlier, back in February, this horse did run fourth in the grade one Los Alminos winner derby.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_14: So I look for notorious with Juan Paleto and the irons to be tough to outrun in this race.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm going to stay along the rail there.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_04: The two horse, Corona Streak and Chess out of the barn of John's John out of the barn of John Steinville.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yancy, if you look, he ran a second in the Sam Houston Derby Challenge Stakes, which got him into the field here, but came back there at Prairie Meadows the next race, won the Cyclone Derby, then qualified into the Polk County Derby, and then ran a second there in the Polk County Derby in Prairie Meadows just shy of a month ago.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_04: Looks to be in form, and he's in between the two top runners in the field.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_04: I think this horse is going to be very live down there in the two-hole with Ally Rivera aboard.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_14: Ever since Ally Rivera and John Steinball teamed back up, they've been really on the road.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_14: They're doing really good at Lone Star.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_14: Um he's always rode John's horses really well, so that's another top runner to outrun in this race as well.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_15: And we'll be right back after these words.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_15: He's one of the top three second-year sires in the country, and he's Eagles Fly Higher.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: With his top earner being Eagle on a June bug, the graded stakes winner with earnings of nearly$375,000 on the track.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: Eagles Fly Higher is a grade one winner and two-time champion.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: And he stands at the Louisiana Center for Equine Reproduction in Opalousis, Louisiana.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_06: Stand by for an announcement.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_06: In three, two, one, go.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_03: The two-time AQHA racing champion and grade one stakes-winning sire Uncle D will return to Oklahoma for the 2027 breeding season while standing at Kavanaugh Quarterhors' near Wayne, Oklahoma.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: And not only that, but Uncle D has also been named as one of the stallion in the Fuego Stallion program.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_03: He was the winner of the Grade One Rainbow Futurity, was named both the AQHA Racing Champion two-year-old and champion two-year-old Colt, and retired with earnings of over$689,000 before siring a grade one winner already in a stud career.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: So that's the big news.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: As top third-year sire Uncle D will return to Oklahoma for the 2027 breeding season at Kavanaugh Quarter Horses in Wayne, Oklahoma.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_03: Make your plans now to book your mirrors for the upcoming breeding season.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: All right, back to the show.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to look back at the brief history of the Grade 1 AQHA Racing Challenge Championship, as 2026 marks the 34th running of this most prestigious event at the classic distance of 440 yards for three-year-olds and up.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_04: Dating back to 1993 at Sunland Park, Juno's Request wins the very first AQHA Challenge Championship.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_04: It was listed as a grade one event as Steve Treasure crossed the wire for trainer Charlie Hunt for a$56,500 purse, captured the very first running.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_04: Now, prior to 1997, the AQHA Challenge Championship was known just as that, the AQHA Challenge Championship.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_04: But from 97 to 2006, it was the NBA America Challenge Championship.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_04: And then in 2007 to 2023, it was the Bank of America Challenge Championship, before reverting back to the AQHA Racing Challenge Championship in 2024.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_04: With this race carrying a birth into the Champion of Champions, over the years it's also caught a lot of interest from some very big name horses, including horses that have gone on to win the champion of champions as well as become world champions.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_04: As in 1997, SLM Big Daddy won the AQHA Racing Challenge Championship, went on the Champion of Champions, out at Los Alamitas, Taylor Fitt did that as well in 2001 at Los Alamitas, stayed there and won the Champion of Champions just shortly thereafter, in route to being world champion.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_04: And then in 2012, Riley's boy won the AQHA Racing Challenge Championship at Prairie Meadows before going back to California to capture victory in the Champion of Champions in 2012.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_04: Now some other interesting facts about this race.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_04: Janet Van Weber won the race three years in a row with three different horses back in 2001, 2, and 3, as the only other three-time winner was Dean Fry, who won with Danger in 2020, 21, and 22.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_04: And we were able to get on the phone with Jockey Cody Smith, who was aboard all three times that Danger crossed the wire in the AQHA Challenge Championship during his three consecutive runs.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_04: On the phone with Jockey Cody Smith, Cody, we're looking at those three big years, 2020, 2021, and 22.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_04: Danger came into this AQHA Racing Challenge Championship.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_04: Back then, I believe it was the Bank of America Challenge Championship.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_04: Talk about the first time in 2020 there in Albuquerque.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_10: I'd actually just started riding him that spring in Remington and uh he qualified through the challenge in uh Canterbury, win the challenge championship there, and went to Albuquerque and that was uh the beginning of three years in a row there.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_09: Danger on the outside! It's danger to win the championship.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_10: The longer I rode him, the more fine-tuned, I guess you'd say, we got to get him away from the gates.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_10: But at that point, he would either leave with him or a step behind at times, and like you had to you had to work to get him there.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_10: And that's kind of what it did that it took that night.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_10: It took about every jump of the racehorse to finally get there, but we got there when for the jump that counted anyway.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_12: Miamor Socretos trying to gun down the favorite, but danger was just way too fast at the beginning.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_12: Danger by almost three lengths, danger hit a knockout blow to win the challenge championship.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_04: 2021 the basically took the same path, right?
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_10: He did.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_10: He uh, like I said, we started the spring in Remington Park, won the Debbie Schaff championship at the end of the meet at the end of the meet there, left there and went to uh Shackerview, Minnesota, Canterbury Park, and qualified for the challenge, and he left there and to Ridoso for the All-American Gold Cup and then Albuquerque for the challenge championship.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_10: But uh people don't realize the amount of miles that is in that circle right there for a horse to travel like that and run that consistent.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_04: That horse was absolutely on fire that night.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_10: He was.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_10: That was uh there early on, he uh he would leave either a step behind or just whiff them and then either run them down or run by him.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_10: But that night there, I never seen a horse from gate to wire.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_10: It wasn't even like he anticipated it, but he he left for better than he ever had.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: But it's danger who leads for Cody Smith with what yards to go, the world champion.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: Danger dominates pretty darn quick.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: A political hero third.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: His time to yell fourth, danger.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_04: Fast forward to 2022, trainer Dean Fry is not one to give up on a plan that's been working.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_04: 2022 looked the same.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_04: The only difference is, of course, Indianapolis was the ending result of where the challenge championship was held that year.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_10: We went basically the same route just back to Indiana.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_10: He broke just as good that night as he did in Albuquerque the year before.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_10: Uh like I said, I uh I never seen a horse from Gate to Wire that night.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_10: He bombed away from there and just put on a performance.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_10: If I recall, I don't even think I rolled my whip over that night and just stayed out of his way and let him do his thing.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_10: It was pretty uh pretty breathtaking for sure.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_04: Cody, thanks for getting on here and taking a walk down memory lane and talking to us about the great danger, as he was one of the outstanding horses to ever go through the in its history of this race.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_04: I appreciate it, Greg.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: Now it's time to hear from the analyst, as a group of ten older runners vibe for a spot in this year's field for the champion of champions at Los Al in December, with a win in this grade one championship event at 440 yards that carries a purse of$285,000, with all of the runners carrying 128 pounds in the Grade 1 AQHA Racing Challenge Championship.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_04: All right, the big one, Yancy, the uh the finale of the night, uh earning a berth into the champion of champions, and a stellar field going forth.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_04: Ten really nice horses being loaded up in the gate going down the racetrack there in Albuquerque.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_14: Yeah, this is what the challenge championship should be.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_14: I mean, it's a loaded field.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_14: Uh I want to start with though the 10 Shakers, no secret.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_14: I really think this horse has come back into his own.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_14: He looked really impressive at Rotama.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_14: But this horse, he just tries hard every time.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_14: He doesn't always get the win, but he's always facing super tough competitors.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_14: And when he's on his game, he's hard to beat.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_14: He was third earlier this year in the Leo, um, second in the Remington Park Challenge Championship, fourth in the Sunland Park Championship.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_14: Like, he's always right there, and I think he'll be really tough to beat on the outside out of the Mark Youngers barn.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_04: And we were able to get on the phone with Mark Youngers and talk to him about this talented runner going into the finals here in Albuquerque.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_04: All right, on the phone with AQHA world champion trainer Mark Youngers.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_04: Mark's got Shakers No Secret, a former championship winner here at Albuquerque, going back into this race with another pursuit to get into the champion and champions with his horse.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_04: Mark, he got the outside post position.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_04: Tell us about Shaker's No Secret.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_07: Well, we shipped him here pretty early.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_07: He's been here training, so doing well.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_07: And um ideally we'd probably rather have a horse beside him, but you know what?
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_07: He's uh obviously got enough seasoning behind him, so hopefully he'll you know run a heck of a race.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_07: And you know, our goal is to try to remember what we did a year two years ago.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_04: So it's coming into this race on a two-race win streak, obviously in fine form ever since June there at Ratama Park.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_04: He has been off since August 21st.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_04: We're going in about almost two months off.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_04: Mark, talk about his sharpness going into this race.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_07: Yeah, we we were kind of just scheduling what we're gonna do on a work, prepping for the for the finals, and um weather, weather had a little impact on what we ended up doing.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_07: Uh Alker, he got a little rain, track had to be shut down for a few days, and so we ended up working him and and uh Lone Star.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_07: That's what we've been training on, and he worked excellent, coming off of the work really well, and we were able to shift in, and he's been galloping and just training extremely well.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_07: So, yeah, you know, a little luck.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_07: Hopefully, we can pull off a win.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_04: Another horse to take a look at, Yancey, bold and beautiful.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_04: The Philly going into the field against a bunch of boys, but that's no, but that hasn't been a deterrent this year as she took on the boys and the Los Alamitas Championship Challenge takes the grade three event to get into this field, defeating all those boys there, and then came back, ran a second in the Millie Vessels to beautiful, the talented three-year-old that's going forth in the champion of champions later in the year.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_04: But this horse is absolutely in for him.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_04: Before that, back in June, ran a really nice race in the grade two Abigail Kwan and Coa Stakes.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_04: Yancey, this is absolutely a stone cold runner that is certainly a horse to take a peek at going against this field.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_14: Ever since they let this horse go 440 or or have started finding spots where this horse can go longer, I've been a big fan of it.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_14: Uh she's a super, super strong finisher, and I definitely think she'll be there on the end running them down.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_14: Another one that we have to talk about, and it was kind of the surprise for me in this race, and the fact that it's eight to one is the eight hooked and gone.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_14: This horse is just always faced super tough competition.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_14: Uh, it's coming off a win in the Prairie Meadows Championship Challenge, grade two last time out.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_14: Before that, ran second in the Kluak Steak, and then at Remington, it was a fourth in the Debbie Schaff, which we know how good that race was.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_14: I've talked about that race a lot.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_14: Impressum was in that race, KJ Desperado was in that race, and Hooked and Gone barely got beat for fourth, and then the time before that ran third in the grade one D Raper, which again was Impressum and Toastin' Heroes.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_14: So this is a horse that's been facing the best in the game pretty much for the last three years now.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_14: This horse has faced the top in the game.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_14: He doesn't always win, but man, he's always right there.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_14: And I was a little surprised that he's eight to one.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_04: And that leads us to talking about the five to two morning line favorite, the all-time leading earner in quarter horse racing history, and that's KJ Desperado out of the barn of Wes Giles, who, as we've mentioned several times this year, Yancey, is always right there, but has just been off the mark a little bit here in 2026.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_04: Clearly, the connections wanted to try to get this horse into the champion of champions at the end of the year, and certainly this giving the opportunity and that spot to do so is certainly a place where West Java is going to take a shot to try to get into the field there with a win here.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_14: Like we've talked about in the past, the the spots are kind of getting limited, and I know that's kind of been their goal with this horse all year is to get him qualified to run in the champion of champions, give him that shot as he is on the tail end of his career.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_14: Um but if he if he runs up the form, I mean he definitely has the class and the ability.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_14: And we might at the end of the day, we might be saying Wes Giles has two two horses going into the champion of champions, but this is definitely a great field, great night of racing for the challenge championships, and I look forward to watching it this weekend.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_04: And we were able to get Jockey Noe Garcia Jr.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_04: on the phone to have him talk about KJ Desperado going into this grade one event.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_04: All right, on the phone with Johnke Noah Garcia, who has the mound.