Rare Ed, under jockey Justine Klaiber, winning the $17,460 Turf Paradise Distance Challenge on Sunday afternoon.

PHOENIX, AZ—APRIL 29, 2018—With a surging run into the stretch, Rare Ed ($14.80) and Justine Klaiber passed heavy favorite Mickey Ward to win the $17,460 Turf Paradise Distance Challenge on Sunday afternoon. The stakes race kicked off a card with six Quarter Horse races and is one of only four Distance Challenge Championship qualifiers scheduled for 2018 across the country.

The final time for the 870-yard race was 46.405; Klaiber and Rare Ed earned a 81 speed index.

This was Rare Ed’s third consecutive appearance in the Turf Paradise Distance Challenge, finishing third in each of the two previous years. However, the 7-year-old gelding went to the AQHA Distance Challenge Championship (G1) twice, winning at Los Al in 2016 and placing third at Prairie Meadows in 2017.

The winning connections of Rare Ed accept the Turf Paradise Distance Challenge stakes trophy and blanket.
© Coady Photography

Rare Ed was bred in Illinois by Ronald Martin, by Dean Miracle, out of the Corona Cartel mare Ms Corona Jet. He is owned by Angel Villalobos-Hernandez and Jose Marin; Roddina Barrett trains.

This was the first win of 2018 for Rare Ed, but it was his seventh win in 35 career starts. He has finished in the money in 23 starts and has lifetime earnings just shy of $125,000.

As the two-time defending champion of the Turf Paradise Distance Challenge, Mickey Ward was the 1-9 favorite loading into the gate for the 2018 edition of the race. Mickey Ward, with Scott Stevens aboard, broke on top and led for most the race before being passed just before the wire by Rare Ed, finishing second by a neck.

Mickey Ward, by FDD Dynasty, is out of A Mere Formality, by Leaving Memories. The 7-year-old is an Arizona homebred for Ralph and Carolyn Fales; Ralph Fales also trains. He is six for 19 lifetime with $70,653 in earnings. In addition to his prior regional Distance Challenge victories, he has placed in several stakes races and was fifth in the AQHA Distance Challenge Championship in 2016.

Finishing just over a length behind the first two finishers was Hes a Bugin and Francisco Monroy. Hes a Bugin is a 6-year-old bred in Oregon by Margaret Dee Klinger by Sixthirteen, out of the Splash Bac mare Missy Nickle Bac.

Roddina Barrett also trains Hes a Bugin, who is owned by Gilberto Madrigal. This was the gelding’s first start of the year, though he is seven for 25 lifetime, including multiple stakes appearances and allowance wins throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Completing the field was A Mere Icon and Eye Blue Byou.