A Tres of Eagle tries to double up in AQHA Challenge Championship

A Tres of Eagle will be looking to win the Grade 1, $277,975 American Quarter Horse Association Challenge Championship for the second year in a row Saturday night, when he makes his first start at the Downs at Albuquerque.

The 440-yard race for 3-year-olds and up is the richest of five graded stakes making up the Challenge Championships. The traveling series is being showcased on a 10-race card made up exclusively of stakes races. First post is 6:05 p.m. Mountain. Purses for the Challenge Championship races are worth a cumulative $830,250.

A Tres of Eagle won last year’s Challenge Championship at Lone Star Park. He prepped for this year’s renewal at that track, winning a no-conditions allowance in his most recent start Oct. 4. The race was A Tres of Eagle’s first since June, and he would seem to have reason to move forward in his second start in four months. As for the new surface, A Tres of Eagle has won races over a variety of tracks in the past, including Arapahoe Park.

Jhaciel Soto has the mount from post 2 for trainer Eddie L. Willis. Bella Vista Farms owns A Tres of Eagle, who can go over $500,000 in earnings Saturday.

The chief threats in the eight-horse field include One Fabulous Boy, who was third by three-quarters of a length in last year’s Challenge Championship, and Pops First Lady, a mare who last year was third by a neck in the Distaff Challenge Championship at Lone Star. Pops First Lady is one of two runners with a win at Albuquerque, with the other being Shakers No Secret.

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The Grade 1, $120,975 Distaff Challenge Championship field is deep, with defending winner Vytaliti meeting win machines Lynnder 16 and Curls Joyful Wagon. The 400-yard race drew 10.

Lynnder 16 is looking for the 24th win of her career after winning back-to-back qualifiers for Friday night’s finale. The victories came at Prairie Meadows and Will Rogers Downs.

Curls Joyful Wagon is looking to win her fourth consecutive race Saturday.

In the Grade 1, $118,975 Distance Challenge Championship at 870 yards, O Donovan Rossa figures to start as a chief contender after running second in this race a year ago. Others making up the eight-horse field include Markus Aurelius, winner of the Remington Park Distance Championship.

Los Alamitos shipper Apollitical Bet will be seeking to win his fourth straight race when he breaks from the rail in the Grade 2, $145,100 Juvenile Challenge Championship. The race is 350 yards, the distance of all of the wins in his streak. Apollitical Bet will be first Lasix.

There are two other three-time winners in the field, Arbitro and the filly Love Ta Fly.

Pretty Sweet Jess will be looking to win her ninth consecutive race when she meets males once again in the Grade 3, $167,225 Derby Challenge Championship. A multiple stakes winner, she invades from Canada and is 8 for 10.

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