GRAND PRAIRIE, TX—NOVEMBER 11, 2017—Defending champion Rc Me Leaving You bobbled the start under jockey Rodrigo Vallejo but still had enough to catch Dm La Jolla by a neck to win his second consecutive $25,000 B.F. Phillips Jr. Stakes (RG3) at Lone Star Park on Saturday. Kid Can Dash finished half-a-length back in third.

The 5-year-old son of multiple stakes sire Coronas Leaving You raced over the Lone Star surface into an 8-mph headwind to earn 94 speed index for 350 yards.

Trainer Jimmy Padgett II saddled Rc Me Leaving You to his seventh career win for owners Terri and Bennie Jeter. This was the second time the bay horse has defended a title this season at Lone Star. He won the Neville Document Solutions Stakes in his last start September 23.

Bred in Texas by R C Running Horses, RC Me Leaving You is out of the Streakin Six mare Sixy Bottom. He has compiled a (24) 7-5-7 record and tonight's B.F. Phillips $14,750 winners' purse boosted his career total to $188,212.

In the 20th renewal of the B.F. Phillips Jr. Stakes, Rc Me Leaving You is the only horse to ever win the race twice.

Runner-up Dm La Jolla races for races for owner-breeder Donna Mushinski and is conditioned by trainer Kie Mushinski. Luciano Duenez rode the 3-year-old Hiclass La Jolla gelding out of Dm Bella Mia by Prime Talent. He earned $4,250 to bring his bankroll to $58,379.

Leon Bard saddled third-place finisher Kid Can Dash for owner/breeder Pete Scarmardo. The graded stakes-placed on of Down N Dash was ridden by jockey Luis Vivanco. Out of the Mr Jess Perry mare Quickkid Perry, Kid Can Dash earned $2,500.

Big Tex, Telleryematthebar, This Is A Deal, Apollitical Wave and Kw Cowboy completed the field.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B.F. Phillips, Jr. grew up among East Texas oil wells, and did not stray far as an adult. An independent oilman, Phillips operated his oil business from his Frisco, Texas ranch. Phillips was involved in the horse industry for many years before he became the 30th president of AQHA in 1980.

In the late 1940s, Phillips decided to sell his cattle and get in the horse business. After watching a cutting show, he wanted to breed and show cow horses. In 1966, Phillips decided to change directions again and had a dispersal sale. He had become interested in racehorses and pursued the racing industry.

Phillips had made a deal with the King Ranch, allowing him to breed some of the ranch’s Thoroughbred mares. The ranch and Phillips were partners on the resulting foals. Two notable horses out of the King Ranch mares were Some Kinda Man and Dash For Cash.

Phillips was elected chairman of the Texas Horse Racing Association’s executive committee in 1987. That same year, Texas approved pari-mutuel betting, something Phillips had campaigned for.

Phillips, 70, died 10 days after the approval. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1989.