ALBUQUERQUE, NM—SEPTEMBER 23, 2017—Adore The Hero (21-1) turned in a sharp effort under jockey Cipriano Vidana to defeat fastest qualifier Jim County Man in the $139,364 La Fiesta Quarter Horse Derby Saturday night at Albuquerque Downs. Stablemate Famouseagletime finished a neck back in third-place.

Conditioned by Wesley Giles, Adore The Hero covered the 440 yards in a wire-to-wire win in :21.497 seconds to earn a 95 speed index. It was the second wins, first of the season, for the won of multiple stakes sire Valiant Hero. He entered the final with the fourth fastest time after a fourth-place effort in the September 8 trials.

Racing for Jill Giles, Melvin Neugebauer, Dennis Jensen and Ezra Lee, the Louisiana-bred gelding picked up $59,682 to increase his lifetime mark to $76,232.

"We've always been high on this horse, and he put it all together tonight," said Neugebauer, who indicated that Adore The Hero might be pointed to the 440-yard Texas Classic Derby (G1) trials at Lone Star Park near Dallas on October 20.

Francisco Javier Garza bred Adore The Hero from the Mr Jess Perry mare Adoring Jess. He has compiled a (7) 2-1-1 record with only other win a maiden effort at Ruidoso Downs last July.

Multiple stakes winner Jm County Man went off as the posttime favorite for owner J and M Racing and Farm and trainer Cynthia Gonzalez. Mauro Salcedo rode the Mr Jess Perry gelding from the stakes winning County Chicks Man mare Sumokin. Bred in Arkansas by Corner K Quarter Horses, Jm Country Man used the $27,878 runner-up check to boost his bankroll to nearly $180,000.

Also, trained by Giles, third-place finisher Famouseagletime races for the same partnership of Giles, Neugebauer, Jensen and Lee. Adrian Ramos rode the stakes-placed One Famous Eagle gelding out of Abstinence by Special Effort. Bred in Louisiana by Grant Farms, LLC, Famouseagletime earned $16,724 for the effort.

Adore The Hero returned $42.40 to win, $13.20 to place and $8 to show.

Highest Return, Kitty Kiernan, Rainey Dash, O What A Night, One Famous Ribbon, Toretto and Zenefit completed the field.