Fastest qualifier Hot Chilly returns as the second favorite in the morning line for Saturday's $140,400 Wyoming Bred QH Derby at Energy Downs 307 Racing.

© Jack Coady Photography

By StallioneSearch

GILLETTE, WY—JUNE 6, 2025—A competitive field of ten accredited Wyoming-bred three-year-olds will line up Saturday evening at Energy Downs 307 Racing to run the $140,400 Wyoming Bred QH Derby.

The 350-yard final, the marquee event on the card, is scheduled as Race 11 with a first post set for approximately 5:40 p.m. (MDT). Ten Wyoming Bred QH Futurity trials will be run before the derby final (see additional story).

The headliner in the field is William C. Fox’s homebred filly Hot Chilly (7-2), who enters off the fastest qualifying time of the six trial races held May 24. The daughter of second-crop sire Chilitos, out of Jeans Lee by Mr Jesse Lee, surged in the final strides to out finish Kcross Comin In Hot by a neck in :17.651.

Trained by Tyler Gibbs and ridden by Keivan Serrano, Hot Chilly picked the perfect time to notch her first career victory and now appears to be rounding into form at the right moment.

The morning line favorite, however, is Jess A Dash Of Class, listed at 5-2 and coming into the final with the most accomplished résumé in the group.

Owned by Eddie Jensen and trained by Kylie Valenzuela, the filly by Jess Paint Me out of Steffiesclassic Dash by Winners Version has won five of her eight lifetime starts and has banked $85,500.

She scored decisively in her trial, posting a time of 17.667 under jockey Jesus Valenzuela. As a past winner of the $133,500 WABRA Wyoming Bred Futurity, she brings class and consistency into the final.

Trainer-owner Aldo Pinela’s Banquet enters as the 4-1 third choice on the morning line following her sharp trial win in 17.690. The daughter of Flay, out of Bouquet by Walk Thru Fire, took command late and defeated a solid group that included A Shot Of Luck.

Luis A. Valenzuela will retain the mount. Banquet has shown she belongs at this level with three wins in nine starts and a runner-up effort in the Mike Lipp Memorial last September.

Other notable contenders include Kcross Comin In Hot, who was narrowly beaten by Hot Chilly in the trials and brings proven stakes experience for BDS Performance Horses and trainer Skyler Greene, and the unbeaten Mr Volaris, who has won all three of his starts for breeder-owner Pedro Mena and enters with a speed index of 95.

Famoushandsomeman, runner-up to Jess A Dash Of Class in the trials, adds further depth to the field. The colt by One Handsome Man, trained and owned by Robby Overturf, has finished in the top three in five of six lifetime starts.

With less than three-tenths of a second separating the top qualifiers, the 2025 Wyoming Bred QH Derby promises a competitive finish. The field is loaded with evenly matched runners, and the outcome may come down to a clean break and a well-timed finish under the Energy Downs lights.

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