Prairie Meadows will host two trials for the $30,000-added 2025 Adequan Prairie Meadows Derby Challenge on Thursday.

© Jack Coady Photography

By StallioneSearch

ALTOONA, IA–JULY 29, 2025–Prairie Meadows will host a pair of 400-yard trials on Thursday evening, July 31, for the $30,000-added 2025 Adequan Prairie Meadows Derby Challenge.

First post is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. CDT, with the trials comprising Races 2 and 3 on the card. The fastest qualifiers from the trials will return for the 400-yard final on Sunday, August 17. The event is restricted to AQHA Challenge-enrolled 3-year-olds.

In Race 2, the spotlight falls on Catchn Southern Rays, installed as the 9-5 morning line favorite. The Apollitical Jess filly, out of Mary Paintyourwagon by Pyc Paint Your Wagon, is owned and bred in Oklahoma by Leann J. Burns.

Trained by Stacy Charette-Hill and ridden by Cristian Esqueda, she enters off a credible effort in the G2 $301,000 Heritage Place Oaks at Remington Park where she broke clean but finished seventh. A stakes winner at two, she captured the $536,000 Black Gold Fillies Futurity at Will Rogers Downs last November and has demonstrated strong closing speed at the 400-yard distance.

Second choice Fancys Prize Corona (3-1) is a gray filly by Kvn Corona out of My First Prize Fancy by Pyc Paint Your Wagon. Bred in Oklahoma by Weetona Stanley and purchased for $30,000 at Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale, she’s trained by Fernando Manriquez for owner Emanuel Yanez. Jorge Torres has the mount.

After breaking her maiden at Remington Park in May, she most recently hit the board in allowance company at Prairie Meadows, finishing third despite a wide trip.

The Criminal, listed at 5-1, adds depth to the field. The sorrel gelding by Apollitical Jess out of Ms Riptide by Ocean Runaway is trained by Jason Olmstead and owned by Tom Maher.

He was bred in New Mexico by MJ Farms and brought $50,000 at Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale. Armando Alvidrez will ride. Although winless in five starts this season, he turned in a good third-place trial finish two back and was a close third in the 2024 Grade 2 Juvenile Challenge Championship at Albuquerque.

The second trial, Race 3 features a strong group led by Flashin Dynamite (5-2), a three-time Prairie Meadows winner. The First Moonflash filly is out of Swingin Cartel by Corona Cartel and was bred in Oklahoma by Wallace Johnson. She races for David P. Morehead and is trained by Manuel Mojica Campos.

Alfredo Triana, Jr. will be aboard. Flashin Dynamite showed class at two with a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 Valley Junction Futurity and has placed in multiple Remington Park stakes this year. She’s looking to rebound after a dull try in her Prairie Meadows Derby trial last out.

Her main challenger is Rockin The Train (3-1), trained by Bradley C. Bolen for owner/breeder Debra M. Gotovac. A gelding by Bp Wagon Train out of Rock Solid Jet by Rock Solid Jess, he won his trial at Sam Houston in April before facing tough company in the Derby Challenge final.

Alejandro Medina retains the mount. Rockin The Train captured an allowance at Louisiana Downs earlier this year and on the 2024 Prairie Meadows Juvenile Challenge.

Also in the mix is A Sweet Arthur (9-2), who brings consistent form into the trials. A $15,000 Heritage Place Yearling Sale graduate, he is by A Sweet Jess out of Alltherightcurves by First Down Dash.

Owned and bred by Samuel and Elizabeth Mendoza, he’s trained by Ramon Mendoza and will be ridden by Randy Vega. A Sweet Arthur has hit the board in his last three starts, including a win over 440 yards at Remington Park. He may benefit from the turnback in distance.

With several stakes-tested runners and talented up-and-comers, these trials promise competitive heats and a fast final ahead on Sunday, August 17.

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