John Deere Emerald Downs Juvenile Challenge winner Secretarysbestcard headlines the field as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the first trial Saturday for the Adequan® Grants Pass Derby Challenge trials.

© Vince & Linda Williams

By H. David Smith, StallioneSearch

GRANTS PASS, OR–JUNE 20, 2025–The Adequan® Grants Pass Derby Challenge begins with two trial heats scheduled for Saturday, June 21, at Grants Pass Downs, with a first post of 3:00 PM.

These $4,000 trials are open to AQHA Challenge-enrolled 3-year-olds aiming to qualify for the $30,000-added final on Friday, July 5. Each heat will be contested over 400 yards, the same distance as the final.

In the first trial (fifth race), Secretarysbestcard headlines the field as the 5-2 morning-line favorite. This daughter of multiple stakes sire Docs Best Card, out of Chicks Wildcat by Returning (TB), is owned and bred by trainer Jose Juan Baca of Oregon and will be piloted by Salvador Ibarra.

Winner of four of six career starts, Secretarysbestcard won last year’s Firecracker Futurity at Grants Pass and most recently outdueled Mr Royal Cartel by a nose in the $51,000 John Deere Juvenile Challenge at Emerald Downs. He has earned $61,300.

Mr Royal Cartel, a 3-1 second choice, is another strong contender. Owned and bred by Ismael Villarreal, the son of The Cartel Hawk out of Miss Royal Rumble by Royal Shake Em is trained by Hector Magallanes and will be ridden by Jaime Lopez.

With two wins and three placings in six starts, he won the $80,000 Far West Futurity here last October and was narrowly beaten in that Emerald Downs Juvenile Challenge by Secretarysbestcard in a thrilling duel.

In the second trial (race six), Mysterious Cartel will break from post three as the 5-2 morning-line favorite. A Texas-bred son of multiple stakes sire Five Bar Cartel out of Mysterious Night by Valiant Hero, he’s owned by Luis Abelardo Gonzalez and trained by Jose A. Rosales Gomez, with Cesar T. Moreno aboard.

Mysterious Cartel has won four of 11 starts, including a daylight trial win at Energy Downs and a runner-up finish in the $170,000 Energy Downs Derby. He also finished a strong second in the South Valley Futurity and third in the Far West Futurity.

His trial rivals include Eyez On Corona, listed at 4-1, who represents the powerful Magallanes barn. This Oregon-bred gelding by The Cartel Hawk out of Angel Eyez by FDD Dynasty has earned $23,070 from eight career outs, highlighted by a win in a Far West Futurity trial last fall and a recent third-place finish in a Blatant Burner Derby trial. Jaime Lopez retains the mount.

Another notable entrant is L Bar D Little Man at 9-2 for trainer Teri Beckner. A gelding by The Marfa Lights out of Be First Rose by Ought to Be First, he’s bred in Oregon by F. Darrell and Linda M. Sanders.

L Bar D Little Man has hit the board in four of six starts, including two strong third-place finishes going 400 yards in last fall’s Far West Futurity and his trial for that event. Hugo Herrera has the ride.

This year’s Adequan® Grants Pass Derby Challenge series is shaping up as a high-quality and competitive event, with several finalists having already shown graded stakes form.

The top qualifiers from Saturday’s trials will return under the lights on July 5 to compete for regional honors and a berth to the national Adequan® Derby Challenge Championship.

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