Shakers No Secret will head the Grade 3 AQHA Racing Championship Challenge on Friday at Retama Park.

© Coady Media

By Louanne Wainscott, StallioneSearch

SELMA, TX–AUGUST 16, 2026–Retama Park will kick off the final weekend of stakes action Friday evening with an 11-race card, highlighted by the Grade 3 $58,718 AQHA Racing Championship Challenge Stakes.

A field of eight 3-year-olds and older will line up for the featured event in the tenth race, scheduled for approximately 10:51 p.m. The accomplished field will travel 440 yards, with more than the stakes purse on the line. The winner will earn a berth to compete on AQHA Racing Championship Day at Albuquerque Downs on October 17.

Shakers No Secret leads the field as the 2-1 morning-line favorite. The six-year-old gelding enters off a victory in the Grade 3 King William Stakes, prevailing by three-quarters of a length. The veteran has 11 career victories and 10 runner-up finishes, earning $864,925 for owners Abel Lopez, Ethan Lopez, and Manny Dutchover, who purchased him for $14,000 as a yearling at the Heritage Place Sale.

The son of Five Bar Cartel is out of the No Secrets Here mare Shaker Secret and was bred in Texas by Garlyn O. Shelton. Trainer Marc E. Jungers will send Shakers No Secret from the outside post eight with Raul Ramirez, Jr., aboard for the first time.

Stablemate Eagles Up enters as the second choice at 7-2 on the morning line. The four-year-old stallion has made only one start this season, running evenly against allowance company. He returns to stakes competition, seeking to recapture the form that carried him to victory in the $110,000 Sires Cup Derby in 2025.

Eagles Up has recorded five victories, three seconds, and three thirds in his career, earning $170,368.

The eight-horse field is completed by #1 Im a Pretty Mess, #2 Dr Pepper 123, #3 Klass Action, #4 Defours, #6 Sightseeing Beauty, and #7 Apollitical Jackie.

With an accomplished favorite, a stakes-winning stablemate, and a competitive field ready to challenge them, the Grade 3 AQHA Racing Championship Challenge Stakes will put the spotlight on Retama Park Friday night as the track begins its final weekend of stakes racing. The 440-yard showdown also offers an opportunity beyond Friday's purse, with a coveted berth to AQHA Racing Championship Day awaiting the winner.

The races at Retama Park can be watched on Q-Racing Video.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Would you like more industry news delivered directly to your inbox? Click here to sign up.