Challenge


Trainer John Stinebaugh Will Saddle Three Young Contenders On Challenge Championship Night
Apollitical Barbie gleams in the sunshine at The Downs at Albuquerque.

© Andrea Caudill / AQHA Racing
Trainer John Stinebaugh Will Saddle Three Young Contenders On Challenge Championship Night

By Andrea Caudill

Q RACING—OCTOBER 24, 2020—Veteran trainer John Stinebaugh will saddle three horses in Saturday’s Bank of America Challenge Championships, all of whom qualified through regional races in Texas.

Two of them will break from Post 1 and Post 2 in the $150,000 Adequan Derby Challenge Championship (G3) – Luchador and Apollitical Barbie.

Luchador races for D.P. Cattel Co. LLC. The sorrel gelding was bred by Butch and Stephanie Webb, and is by Valiant Hero and out of Madresita, a daughter of Pappasito who herself was a Grade 1-placed earner of $113,811 on the racetrack.

He comes into the race off a victory in the Adequan Ruidoso Derby Challenge and has lit the board in every start this year. He has a career record of five wins or placings in 10 career starts with earnings of $42,712.

“Luchador is dead solid,” Stinebaugh says. “Nobody needs to be making mistakes because I don’t believe he will. His form shows that. He’ll be in the thick of things, he’s a good horse.”

Starting just to his outside is Apollitical Barbie, who comes into the race having lit the board in all three of her starts this year. She has a career record of two wins from nine starts and earnings of $29,658.

Owned by Barbara Chase, Apollitical Barbie was bred by Bobbi Jo Randle and is by Apollitical Blood and out of the Walk Thru Fire mare Hott Feett.

Her trainer is hoping the mare will have the opportunity to step up in a tough field.

“I think she has to run the best of her best races to get a good check out of that bunch of horses,” he says. “I think it’s drawn a nice set of horses.”

Stinebaugh’s final horse to run will be Cartel Creek in the $125,000 John Deere Juvenile Challenge Championship (G2).

The brown gelding races for AQHA 50-Year Breeder William O. Dale, who bred the horse in partnership with Jim Streelman. The horse is by The Louisiana Cartel and out of the Ivory James mare Rawhide Creek.

From five career starts, the horse has run second four times, with earnings of $19,520. Among those was a second-place run in the John Deere Sam Houston Juvenile Challenge (G3), which was run at Retama Park.

“He’s twice the horse he was when he ran second in the futurity in San Antonio,” Stinebaugh says. “I know he’s going to be an underdog, but he doesn’t know that – and he’s been training better than he ever has in his life. I think he’ll perform.”

Last year, Stinebaugh saddled Let There Be Sound to win the Cox Ranch Distance Challenge Championship (G1) on the Challenge Championship card, and this year he looks for a repeat shot on Championship night.

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