Graded stakes-winner Tha Duke increases his opportunity for further racing success by enrolling in the AQHA Racing Challenge program.

© Coady Photography

AMARILLO, TX–JUNE 3, 2024– Louisiana-bred gelding Tha Duke has been late-enrolled into the AQHA Racing Challenge by his breeders and owners Ashton Elder and Miguel Romero Jr.

The $20,000 fee is just a small fraction of the $462,710 the gelding by RC Me Leaving You has already pulled in for his Athens, Texas-based owners. The 4-year-old now has significant more race opportunity for the rest of his racing career, including regional Challenge stakes races around the country, and the potential to qualify to the AQHA Racing Challenge Championships at year’s end, which is filled with top-quality races.

Tha Duke has to date made 13 starts, with seven wins. He won the 2022 LQHBA Louisiana Million Futurity (RG1) and 2023 Louisiana Classic Stakes (RG2), and has lit the board in the 2023 Heritage Place Derby (G2) and the Miss Polly Classic (G3) earlier this year.

The AQHA Racing Challenge has provided more racing opportunity for American Quarter Horses for a quarter century. A one-time enrollment fee into the program, which is as low as $300 for a weanling, allows a horse to compete in the program for its entire life.

To enroll a horse in the AQHA Racing Challenge, simply fill out an enrollment form or call 877-222-7223.

AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHA Racing on Twitter and on Instagram, "like" Q-Racing on Facebook, and visit www.aqha.com/racing.