Multiple graded stakes winner Relentless Eagle has been set as the (9-5) morning-line favorite in Friday's $50,000 AQHA Retama Park Championship Challenge (G3).

© Dustin Orona Photography

By H. David Smith, StallioneSearch

SELMA, TX–AUGUST 11, 2025–A talented field of four Challenge-enrolled Quarter Horses will break from the Retama Park starting gate on Friday, August 15, in the $50,000 AQHA Retama Park Championship Challenge (G3), a 440-yard test for 3-year-olds and up.

First post for the evening card is 6:30 p.m. (CDT), with Race 6 scheduled to go off at approximately 8:25 p.m.

The winner will earn an automatic berth to the $350,000-est. AQHA Challenge Championship (G1) on October 18 at The Downs at Albuquerque.

Morning-line favorite Relentless Eagle (9-5) headlines the field for owner Lance Bland and trainer Marc E. Jungers. The 4-year-old gelding by Hes Relentless out of Volcoms Delight by Volcom, bred in Oklahoma by George P. Mitchell II, boasts six career wins and earnings of $316,935.

Purchased for $100,000 at the Heritage Place Yearling Sale, Relentless Eagle was a multiple stakes winner in 2024, including victories in the Texas Classic Derby (G1) and Dash For Cash Derby (G2). He will make his second start of 2025 after a tight fifth in a June allowance at Los Alamitos. Regular rider Christian Ramos has the call.

Second choice As Moonflash (2-1) enters off a sharp victory in the July 3 Selma Stakes at Retama Park, where she dueled and prevailed with a 98 speed index for owner Marisol Alvarado and trainer Heber Deyta-Melendez.

The 4-year-old mare by First Moonflash out of As And Js by Apollitical Jess, bred in Oklahoma by Leonardo Alcala, has won four of seven career starts, including a 2023 All American Futurity trial at Ruidoso Downs. Jockey Nestor Duran will again be in the irons. Fourth in the Grade 2 Lovington Stakes last season she has earned $81,741.

Veteran Tyger King (10-1) will look to recapture his winning form for owner Tabasco Racing LLC and trainer Yasmine M. Medina. A 5-year-old son of leading sire Apollitical Jess out of Cruzin the Wagon by Pyc Paint Your Wagon, bred in Oklahoma by Reliance Ranches LLC, Tyger King was a $150,000 Heritage Place Yearling Sale purchase.

He is a five-time winner with $127,053 in earnings, though he has struggled in recent starts, including an eighth-place finish in the Grade 3 King William Stakes in June. Gaspar Garcia rides.

Longshot Jess Hylee Redeemed (15-1) completes the field for owner Clyde Goff and trainer Roger Partridge. The 3-year-old colt by Jess Send Cupid out of Hyla by Eyesa Special, bred in Texas by Rebecca Partridge, is winless in three starts and was most recently sixth in a maiden event at Retama on August 2. Adrian X. Morales will be aboard.

With only four entrants, the $50,000 AQHA Retama Park Championship Challenge promises a high-stakes sprint where the winner not only claims the lion’s share of the purse but also secures a coveted spot in the Grade 1 AQHA Challenge Championship this fall in New Mexico.

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