Hes Judgeandjury headlines the Grade 3 AQHA California Challenge Championship on Saturday at Los Alamitos

© Ruidoso Downs

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–JULY 31, 2024–Steve Holt and Jeff Jones’s Hes Judgeandjury, the AQHA champion 2-year-old in 2022, will look to win at 440 yards for the first time since taking a trial to the Grade 1 All American Derby when he leads the field to the AQHA California Challenge Championship on Saturday at Los Alamitos.

A compact but strong field will face the starter in the quarter-mile feature here. This field also features Cajun superstar Tha Duke and local stakes winner A Famous Ribbon. All three of these runners are trained by Heath Taylor, who won this race last year with the World Champion Empressum.

Hes Judgeandjury’s most famous win at 440 yards came during his championship campaign when he won the Grade 1 All American Futurity. A half-brother to the great Empressum, Hesjudgeanjury has yet to reach the winner’s circle in five outings this year, but with every outing, he gets closer and closer to $2 million in career earnings. To be ridden by Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo from post number three, Hes Judgeandjury will enter this race with $1,980,036 in career earnings.     

Ashton Elder and Miguel Romero’s Tha Duke is closing in on a $500,000 lifetime bankroll as he enters this event. The homebred son of RC Im Leaving You finished in a dead heat with San Lorenzo Jet to win the LQHBA Million Futurity at Evangeline Downs in 2022. He’s also raced in the Heritage Place Derby at Remington Park and won the Louisiana Classic at Delta Downs.

This field will also feature Jess Being A Friend, who has amassed a big bank account of over $436,000, and Cava John Cash, a three-time winner here. The winner of this race will earn a berth to the Grade 1 Bank of America Challenge Championship, which will be held at The Downs in Albuquerque in October.