This season’s event is set to return to Lone Star Park Oct. 21, and winners from the three qualifiers at Horseshoe Indianapolis are now eligible to travel to Texas for the event.
Kicking off the Thursday’s qualifiers was a full field of 10 in the $43,197 John Deere Juvenile Challenge, running at 350 yards. It was only the fourth career start for HG Favorite Energy (photo), but he came into the race off a third-place finish in the $148,000 Heartland Futurity and when the gate sprung, he was ready for action.
Guided by L.D. “Daniel” Martinez, HG Favorite Energy held his ground in the center of the pack as AJ Pure Gold and Cristian Reyes scooted out for the early advantage. Eight horses were stretched across the track side by side for the majority of the dash before HG Favorite Energy hit another gear, moving up late to take over the lead and the eventual win in 18.022 seconds.
“This is one of my favorite babies this year in the barn,” said Martinez through interpretation from his wife, Lizbeth. “He is one that just keeps improving and improving. I think he has improved the most.”
HG Favorite Energy paid $8.80 for the win. The freshman son of Favorite Cartel is owned by Lisa Cunningham and trained by Tony Cunningham, Indiana’s all-time leading Quarter Horse owner. It was his second win of the season, and he has not been off the board in any of his four outs. The gelding is now over the $50,000 mark in earnings.
“Everybody works hard, and everybody works together to do well for the barn,” said Salvador Villalobos, longtime assistant trainer for Cunningham. “Everybody worked together on this horse too. He broke good for us this winter and he has been strong from the start. He broke sharp today and everything worked out perfect.”
Q-Racing Video Distaff Challenge
Eye Live for Candy was a determined starter in the $29,266 Q-Racing Video Distaff Challenge at Horseshoe Indianapolis. As track announcer John G. Dooley stated at the finish, “She has stamped her ticket to Texas,” with the win in the qualifier for the Bank of America Challenge Championships set for Oct. 21 at Lone Star Park.
Starting from post four, Eye Live for Candy (photo) came out of the gate well and was in contention for the lead after the first few jumps. Pina sat patiently on the mare as she dug in gamely during the 400-yard dash. In the end, she was able to repel Sawyer Strange and Fernando Morin, who were closing in late, for the win.
Eye Live for Candy paid $4.00 as the favorite of the field. The four-year-old brown mare by A Revenant is owned by Milena Kwiecien. Jason Pascoe trains the mare, who earned her fourth stakes title in the effort.
“I was very pleased with how she ran today,” said Pascoe. “There was a nice little mares’ overnight stakes here in August, so we brought her down for that to give her a run over the track. We took her back home and then brought her back in this week for this race. The first trip was definitely a prep for today’s race.”
Pascoe is based at Ajax Downs in Ajax, Ontario Canada. He has been training since 2005 and made a trip to the Bank of America Challenge a few years ago when it made a stop at Los Alamitos in 2017. He plans to return again this year with Eye Live for Candy.
“We’ll take her back home to Ajax and get ready for the final,” added Pascoe. “We still have a meet to finish up at Ajax (Downs). Then, we will head to Texas (Lone Star Park) with this mare.”
Eye Live for Candy has not been off the board in the past year and a half, showing the consistency of the mare. Overall, she has seven wins in 22 career starts with earnings of more than $120,000. The versatile mare has now won races at three different tracks under four different jockeys. Pina was aboard for the first time in the Q-Racing Video Distaff Challenge.
“She is hard to ride,” admitted Pina. “I was told she didn’t like the stick much. She broke a little bit slow, but I hesitated to bring out my stick. It seemed like every time I moved my hands, she thought I was going to use it and she hesitated, so I just let her run because she was doing so well without it. I didn’t want to do anything to mess her up. You can tell she’s intense on the track. She means ‘game on’ when it is time to go.”
Adequan Derby Challenge
It wasn’t the path the Eggleston barn would have chosen to the winner’s circle, but it still was a good feeling to win the $35,530 Adequan Derby Challenge. Following two late scratches prior to the race and a disqualification, Rogues Last Game and Rolando Pina (photo) came home as the winners of the race.
It was the final qualifier of three on the card at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville Thursday leading into the Oct. 21 Bank of America Challenge Championships at Lone Star Park.
The field, reduced to four starters, all broke in a pack. What Else is New and Fernando Morin got the early advantage but veered in, causing tight quarters in the early stages of the 400-yard dash. In the final strides Rogues Last Game was charging hard along the inside of What Else is New, who won the race in a head bob over Rogues Last Game before the disqualification switched the final order. Braveaux and Giovani Vazquez-Gomez finished third.
“About 30 yards out of the gate, the other horse came over in front of us,” explained Pina about the disqualification. “We regrouped and he (Rogues Last Game) still made up a lot of ground. He finished really well tonight. He was a real challenge to break, but he’s come a long way. He’s good to ride now.”
Rogues Last Game won his second straight race. The Game Patriot sorrel gelding paid $3.60 as the favorite of the field. He is owned by Nick Johnson’s JF Racing Stables LLC. Tim Eggleston trains the three-year-old, who is now four for 12 in his career with $63,000 on his card.
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