AQHA Champion The Grand Legend, owned by James “Jim” G. Whitener, LLC, retires after earning $477,883 and winning 19 races.

© Jack Coady Photography

By Greg Thompson, StallioneSearch.com

DALLAS, TEXAS—OCTOBER 15, 2025— After nineteen victories, eight stakes wins, and $477,883 in career earnings, former AQHA Distance Champion The Grand Legend has officially been retired from racing.

Trained by Adan Guzman and owned by James “Jim” G. Whitener, LLC, the nine-year-old FDD Going Grand gelding—bred in Texas by Mercy Hinklin—concludes his remarkable career as one of the premier distance horses of the past decade. His final start came in an allowance win in September in preparation for the Q-Racing Video Distance Challenge (G1) finals at The Downs at Albuquerque.

With his longtime rider Noe Villatoro aboard, The Grand Legend battled gamely to secure a narrow victory at Lone Star Park, marking his nineteenth—and final—career win.

Earlier this year, he captured the Sam Houston Distance Challenge Stakes on May 17, 2025, earning his berth in the Q-Racing Distance Challenge Championship (G1) at Albuquerque.

“We were certainly hoping he would have had the opportunity to finish his career in the Grade 1 at Albuquerque,” said owner Jim Whitener. “After his win at Lone Star, it became clear that it was time to let him retire—he’s certainly earned it.”

The Grand Legend is the top money earner out of Legendary Seis by Tres Seis and is a half-brother to the dam of stakes winners Fdd Cloud and Going Noble.

He leaves a lasting mark among the great distance runners in Quarter Horse racing. Of his eight stakes victories, four came at the graded level, including his triumph in the Grade 1 AQHA Distance Challenge Championship at Lone Star Park in 2023.

From late 2023 through mid-2024, he rattled off seven consecutive wins. That season, he was voted AQHA Champion Distance Horse and ranked as the #1 leading aged gelding by wins.

Over his 44 starts, The Grand Legend finished in the money 31 times. His 2025 campaign included victories in the Sam Houston Distance Challenge Stakes and Governors Cup Marathon Stakes, along with a third-place finish in the San Marcos Stakes. His other major wins include the AQHA Distance Challenge Championship (G1), Let ‘Er Rip Lip Chip LLC Stakes (G2)—twice, the San Marcos Stakes—twice, and the King Rick Rack Stakes (G2).

“It’s been an amazing run and a true pleasure to own such a tremendous athlete,” Whitener added. “He’s earned the right to live out the rest of his life like the champion he is.”

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