Cowboys Flying the one to beat in All American Futurity despite trainer switch
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The only undefeated runner in Monday’s $3 million All American Futurity at the Downs at Albuquerque has a new trainer for Quarter Horse racing’s richest race. Cowboys Flying, the winner of two futurities at Sam Houston Race Park and Retama Park in May and July, was recently transferred from Ramiro Villarreal to Marco Chavez-Gutierrez.
Villarreal was among a group of trainers excluded from entering horses in Texas in mid-August after their written license exams were incorrectly graded by a steward, the Texas Racing Commission recently told the Paulick Report.
Cowboys Flying had already qualified for the All American Futurity at the time. The gelding was the second-fastest qualifier from the first of two days of time trials on Aug. 8-9. The runners with the five fastest times from 14 trials each day advanced to Monday’s 440-yard final.
Cowboys Flying, who races for the Double J Racing stable of Jerry Deville and Jaime Cardenas, is the first runner in the All American Futurity for Chavez-Gutierrez.
“I feel confident with him,” Chavez-Gutierrez said on Friday. “He’s a very laid-back horse. He goes to the track and he’s all business. He’s a very sound horse. It gives me a little more confidence going into the final.”
Earlier this year, Cowboys Flying won the $541,000 Texas Breeders Futurity at Sam Houston and the $683,700 Texas Quarter Horse Association Futurity at Retama Park. Cowboys Flying, the 9-5 morning line favorite, was timed in 21.01 seconds in the All American trials, the third-fastest overall qualifying time. Chile Gato, a registered Paint horse, was the quickest in the trials on Aug. 7, finishing in 20.91 seconds for his first win in his second start. Chile Gato, trained by Jed Vane, was fifth in a division of the Oklahoma Futurity trials at Remington Park on March 6.
Vane’s stable did not have any runners from mid-April to mid-June after he was one of three trainers summarily suspended by Remington Park stewards over concern about the post-race conditions of some runners from those stable in March and April. Some horses from those stables were vanned from the racetrack.
Tempting Lu, one of four fillies in Monday’s race, had the fastest time of 20.99 seconds from the Aug. 8 trials. She was second by a neck in the $353,927 West Texas Futurity on April 4 when trained by Eric Valenzuela. In late May, Valenzuela was summarily suspended by New Mexico officials after a needle and syringe were found in his stable. Valenzuela has not had a starter since May 29.
Omar Vargas is the current trainer of Tempting Lu.
There will be support for Think Twice Perry, who was second to El Huracano V in the $1 million Rainbow Futurity at Albuquerque on July 12 and won a division of the All American trials on Aug. 8 in 21.12 seconds. El Huracano V has not raced since the Rainbow Futurity after Sam Valeriano, the gelding’s owner, was summarily suspended by Albuquerque stewards in late July for alleged administration of illegal medication to his horses in recent years.
Kj Desparado headlines Gold Cup
In the race preceding the All American Futurity, Kj Desparado, who has earned an all-time Quarter Horse record of $3,448,777 in a six-year career, starts in the $250,000 All American Gold Cup for 3-year-olds and older at 440 yards.
Trained by Wes Giles, the 7-year-old KJ Desparado is winless in four starts since an allowance race at Albuquerque in June 2025, his final start that year. Kj Desparado was second by a half-length in a 400-yard allowance race at Albuquerque on July 17.
The Gold Cup field includes Church Spire, winner of the $105,280 Leo Stakes for Chavez-Gutierrez at Remington Park in May; Fdd Dreams, who won the $700,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos last December; and the Giles-trained Kj Bad Moon Rising, who has won 9 of 18 starts and earned more than $1.4 million.
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