Challenge Championships return to Lone Star Park

Nothin Like You will attempt to nail down his first win at the classic Quarter Horse distance of 440 yards on Saturday night when he starts as the possible favorite in the Grade 1, $250,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship at Lone Star Park.

The race for 3-year-olds and up is the richest of five graded Challenge Championship stakes on a 12-race card that starts at 6:05 p.m. Central. The races will be simulcast to sites around the country and to international markets.

The Challenge Championships are a traveling series of races put on by the American Quarter Horse Racing Association. Lone Star will run five $35,000 stakes preceding the Challenge Championship races, which are worth a total of $725,000. The card’s total value is more than $900,000.

“The card turned out very good,” said Bart Lang, director of racing for Lone Star. “The field sizes were good. We’re happy to host again. We haven’t hosted in a while. We’re excited about Saturday.”

Lang said Lone Star last hosted the Challenge Championships in 2015.

Nothin Like You has made two starts at 440 yards, finishing second both times. In the first, he was beaten two lengths by world champion Danjer in the Grade 1 Remington Park Invitational in June. A few months later, Nothin Like You was beaten three-quarters of a length by One Fabulous Boy in the Grade 2 Prairie Meadows Championship Challenge.

:: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets.

Nothin Like You came back in his next start to win the Grade 3 Two Rivers Stakes at 400 yards by 1 1/2 lengths on Sept. 29 at Prairie Meadows in his final stepping-stone to the Challenge Championship.

Nothin Like You will break from post 5, while One Fabulous Boy drew post 9.

One Fabulous Boy has not raced since winning the Championship Challenge on Aug. 20.

The Challenge Championships start with the seventh race, the Grade 1, $100,000 Distance Championship at 870 yards, which features O Donovan Rossa and local horse for course The Grand Legend.

O Donovan Rossa has made a nice transition to “hook” racing, winning some of his races at this distance by margins of 10 1/2 lengths and 3 1/4 lengths.

The Grand Legend was a 6 3/4-length winner of the local prep for the Distance Championship. He’s 4 for 11 at Lone Star.

The Grade 1, $100,000 Distaff Championship at 400 yards is one of the most competitive races on the card, drawing such notable runners as Pattys Saint, who is 17 for 24, and Lynnder 16, a two-time winner at Lone Star.

The Grade 2, $125,000 Juvenile Championship is led by Jt True Grit, who is a four-time winner at the race’s 350-yard distance.

The Grade 3, $150,000 Derby Championship at 400 yards drew a full field, just like the Distance, Distaff, and Juvenile Championships. A Legacy of Tales has won his last five races but faces an up-and-coming runner in Leading Flare.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.