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ALBUQUERQUE, NM—OCTOBER 23, 2019—Post positions for all five Bank of America Challenge Championship races were drawn during a special luncheon held Wednesday at the First Turn Lounge at Albuquerque Downs.
A total of 10 Quarter Horse races will be contested on Saturday, including five undercard stakes. Post time for the first race is set for 6:05 p.m. (MDT). The final race of the night, the 440-yard, $250,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship (G1), is set to go off at 9:50.
Also at the luncheon, American Quarter Horse Association chief racing officer Janet Van Bebber announced that the 2020 Challenge Championships will be held at Albuquerque Downs on Saturday. This will mark the first time in the program’s 27-year history that the same track has hosted the Challenge Championships in back-to-back years. Following is a preview of all five Challenge Championship races, listed in the order they will be run.
AQHA COX RANCH DISTANCE CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP (G1)
3-year-olds & older -- 870 yards
Purse, $104,500
Let There Be Sound brings a three-race win streak into this race, the sport’s only Grade 1 stakes at the 870 distance.
Trained by John Stinebaugh for owners Louis Howard and Corrine Howard, Let There Be Sound has won both of his starts this season, including the 870-yard, $54,137 AQHA Cox Ranch Albuquerque Distance Challenge (G3) at Albuquerque Downs on July 28. Let There Be Sound drew post 8 and will be ridden by Gilbert Ortiz.
The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey assignments:
JOHN DEERE JUVENILE CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP (G2) 2-year-olds -- 350 yards Purse, $130,625
David L. Wisdom’s Divas First Moon, a homebred gray daughter of champion First Moonflash trained by Bob Johnson, drew the rail post for this race.
Divas First Moon will be making her first-ever start in New Mexico off of a neck victory as the favorite in the 350-yard, $50,303 John Deere Prairie Meadows Juvenile Challenge in Iowa on September 14. Stormy Smith will ride the South Dakota-bred filly, who has won her last three outs.
The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey assignments:
ADEQUAN DERBY CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP (G3) 3-year-olds -- 400 yards Purse, $154,750
Valiant Tiberas, a Valiant Hero gelding owned by Sergio Holguin, Cliften Nielsen, and Felix Rodriguez, heads a field of 10 3-year-olds entered in this race.
Valiant Tiberias is coming off of a Ruidoso Downs summer season during which he earned $126,429 from six outs, and his four wins included a three-quarter length victory in the 400-yard, $53,108 Adequan Ruidoso Derby Challenge on June 29. The gelding also was a finalist in Quarter Horse racing’s richest race for 3-year-olds, the 440-yard, $1,550,855 All American Derby (G1) on September 1.
Valiant Tiberias drew post 10 and will be ridden by James Flores for trainer Ricardo Armendariz.
The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey assignments:
AWARDS RECOGNITION CONCEPTS DISTAFF CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP (G1) Fillies & mares, 3-year-olds & older -- 400 yards Purse, $106,500
One of only three Grade 1 stakes in the sport restricted to fillies and mares, this race has drawn a full field of 10, topped by likely favorite Curls Happy Wagon.
Trained by Stacy Charette-Hill for owners Michael Pohl and Martin Stacy, Curls Happy Wagon ended her 3-year-old season with a second-place finish, a head behind champion Hotstepper, in the 440-yard, $376,000 Texas Classic Derby (G1) at Lone Star Park. The homebred 4-year-old Pyc Paint Your Wagon mare has also enjoyed success this year, as she’s earned $81,234 from four races, and she scored a one-length victory in the 350-yard, $50,000 Decketta Stakes (G3) at Remington Park in her season debut on March 23.
Curls Happy Wagon drew post 4 and will be ridden by Jorge Torres.
The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey assignments:
BANK OF AMERICA CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP (G1) 3-year-olds & older -- 440 yards Purse, $266,250
Contested at the classic Quarter Horse distance of 440 yards, this race offers its winner a provisional berth to the December 14, $600,000 Champion of Champions (G1) at Los Alamitos Racecourse near Los Angeles.
Ruben Garcia Montemayor’s Eye N Capo has earned $76,013 from four races in four states this season, and he prepped for this start with a three-quarter length victory in a 250-yard open-condition allowance dash at Retama Park near San Antonio on September 6. The 5-year-old son of the Corona Cartel stallion Capo de Capi qualified for this race with a three-quarter length win as the odds-on favorite in the 440-yard, $68,000 Bank of America Oklahoma Challenge (G2) at Remington Park in Oklahoma City on May 12.
Eye N Capo drew post 2 and will be ridden by Jesse Levario for trainer Josue Ponce.
The complete lineup, in post position order including jockey assignments:
Albuquerque Downs Racetrack and Casino is located in the heart of Albuquerque at Expo New Mexico, the home of the New Mexico State Fair, and general admission and parking are always free (via the casino entrance on Louisiana and Central). For more information, visit abqdowns.com and click on the "Racing" link at the top of the homepage.
The post position draw for the Bank of America Challenge Championships will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio Albuquerque (101.7 FM) on Wednesday.
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