Three trials for the RG3 $100,000 TQHA Sires’ Cup Derby will be contested on Saturday's race card at Retama Park.

© Jack Coady Photography

By Louanne Wainscott, StallioneSearch

SELMA, TX–AUGUST 4, 2026–Saturday night at Retama Park belongs to the sophomores, as an 11-race program features three competitive trial heats for the RG3 $100,000 TQHA Sires’ Cup Derby. First post is set for 6:45 p.m., with 26 three-year-olds set to battle 400 yards in races eight through ten for a chance to qualify for the August 22 championship final.

The Sires’ Cup Derby Trials are limited to the progeny of stallions that participated in the TQHA Stallion Service Auction, adding another chapter to one of Texas Quarter Horse racing’s premier programs. Only the ten fastest qualifiers from the three trial heats will earn a return trip to the lucrative finale.

The marquee matchup comes in the third and final trial, race ten, where two accomplished fillies, Shes Ec to Tempt and Di Kvn Waven, square off, potentially producing the fastest qualifying time of the evening.

Shes Ec to Tempt enters the trials as one of the hottest runners in the region, bringing a remarkable seven-race winning streak. After finishing second in her career debut in 2025, the filly has been flawless, winning every start since. Her impressive résumé includes a victory in this year's $36,000 GCFA Dutchman Stakes, and her juvenile campaign was highlighted by a win in the $186,000 Big Easy Futurity. Racing for K K Horse Racing, she has earned $156,623 from eight career starts.

The Texas-bred daughter of Tempting Dash is out of the EC Jet One mare Kas Shes Ec and was bred by Francisco Javier Garza. Trainer Jose A. Garcia will send her from post five, with leading rider Victor M. Urieta, Jr., aboard.

Lining up just to her inside is the accomplished Di Kvn Waven, whose résumé makes her one of the most accomplished runners in the field. She opened her three-year-old campaign by winning her Sam Houston Derby trial, then finished fifth in the Grade 3 $234,000 final. She followed that effort with a strong runner-up finish in the Grade 3 $75,000 Selma Stakes on July 3, setting her up for another stakes-caliber performance.

As a two-year-old, Di Kvn Waven captured both the Grade 2 Louisiana Downs Futurity and the Grade 2 TQHA Sires' Cup Futurity, and she also qualified for the Grade 2 Dash for Cash Futurity. In ten career starts, she has recorded five victories and three runner-up finishes, banking an impressive $315,337 for owner Refugio Alvarado, who purchased her for just $24,000 at the TQHA Yearling Sale.

The daughter of Kvn Corona is out of the Mr Piloto mare Waven Bye Piloto and was bred in Texas by Jacobo Garza. Jose Ivan Martinez trains the talented filly, and Oliver E. Martinez is named to ride from post four.

The second trial, race nine, features another standout filly, Karma Cha Ching, who enters the weekend in top form. The Sarah Huskeys Texas homebred has won three straight races, including a trial victory before capturing the Sam Houston Oaks by a neck. Earlier this Retama meet, she added the La Villita Stakes to her résumé after opening the season with a fourth-place finish in the John Buchanan Memorial Stakes.

Karma Cha Ching, the daughter of Pa Cha Ching, is out of the Marthas First Corona mare Tinys First Corona. Trained by Esteban Rubio, she has won four of eleven career starts and earned $127,302. She will leave from post five with Nestor Duran aboard as she looks to continue her winning streak and secure a place in the Derby final.

Although the Sires' Cup Derby Trials welcome both colts and fillies, this year's edition appears to be loaded with standout female talent. With several accomplished fillies entering the weekend in peak form and carrying the strongest credentials, they will be the horses to watch as the battle for ten coveted spots in the August 22 RG3 $50,000-added TQHA Sires' Cup Derby Final unfolds.

The races at Retama Park can be watched on Q-Racing Video.

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