AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION—OCTOBER 25, 2018— Racing fans at Lone Star Park and across North America got an early Halloween treat over the weekend as two of the top ranked horses in the AQHA Racing National Polls – No. 1 ranked 2-year-old Apocalyptical Jess and No. 2-ranked older horse Hotstepper – raced in trials for the Grade 1 Texas Classic Futurity and Derby and advanced to the finals on November 10.

Apocalyptical Jess backed up his position as the unanimous top choice in the ranking as he scored a half-length victory in his trial while making his first start since winning the $3-million All American Futurity (G1) on Labor Day at Ruidoso Downs. The Apollitical Jess gelding posted the eighth-fastest time to qualify for the $1,018,077 final.

The weekend’s action also included trials for the $976,750 Golden State Futurity (G1) at Los Alamitos. While no ranked horses qualified for the November 4 final, the top finishers are likely to earn consideration from voters.

Among the older horses, the idle Jessies First Down again topped the poll while No. 2-ranked Hotstepper qualified to the $378,810 Texas Classic Derby with a third-place finish in his trial. Like Apocalyptical Jess, Hotstepper was making his first start since Labor Day weekend when he won the All American Derby (G1) at Ruidoso Downs.

In the $925,100 Los Alamitos Super Derby (G1) trials in Southern California, KVN Corona sprinted to the fastest qualifying time and is ranked just outside the top 10 this week. The Corona Cartel colt, along with the rest of the field, will get the chance to impress voters in the November 11 final..

NATIONAL RANKINGS, 3-YEAR-OLDS AND OLDER

1. JESSIES FIRST DOWN (90)
2. HOTSTEPPER (78)
3. BH LISAS BOY (74)
4. BODACIOUS EAGLE (52)
5. HE LOOKS HOT (49)
6. ZOOMIN FOR SPUDS (43)
7. HOLD AIR HOSTAGE (42)
8. TARZANITO (34)
9. HEZA DASHA FIRE (32)
10. JESS MOVE YOU (19)

KVN CORONA (11), SF HOT PASS (7), BRUCE ALLMTY (4), DF AJ GREEN LEAVES (4), JESSTACARTEL (4), EOS A POLITICAL WIN (2), JESS RAVIN (2), BELIEVE ME IRENE (1), FLY BABY FLY (1), MOONIE BLUES (1).

NATIONAL RANKINGS, 2-YEAR-OLDS

1. APOCALYPTICAL JESS (100)
2. MM FOURINTHEMORNING (85)
3. WAVE HER DOWN (70)
4. BLUE CORAZON (63)
5. (tie) IM JESS SPECIAL V (41)
5. (tie) SUZE RETURNS (41)
7. LYNNDER 16 (35)
8. LONG WAGON HO (34)
9. WICKED AFFAIR (22)
10. PAINT ME A SINNER (15)

DANJER (11), COLE MAN 47 (9), JESS FIRE CHICK (7), POWERFUL FAVORITE (6), AQUA FLASH (4), EAGLE COAST (3), ZEE JAMES (3), MPSHINNING (1).

The integrity of American Quarter Horse racing is of utmost importance to AQHA. As part of a multifaceted effort to ensure integrity, AQHA has instituted a policy concerning awards and publicity that makes horses with racing medication positives and horses trained by trainers with racing medication positives ineligible for the AQHA Racing National Polls. CLICK HERE to read the complete policy.

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AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHARacing on Twitter, watch the AQHA Racing Newscast and visit aqha.com/racing.