Stakes Action Highlights Closing Weekend at Sweetwater Downs

The Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association (LQHBA), in partnership with Louisiana Downs, will award five $2,000 scholarships during a live drawing on Saturday, March 28, at the racetrack in Bossier City.

The drawing will be held in the winner’s circle immediately after the fourth race on a program that includes the Mardi Gras Futurity and Louisiana Downs Futurity. Registration opens at 11:00 a.m. on race day at the casino-level escalator and closes promptly after the third race. First post is set for 1:35 p.m., and applicants must be present in the winner’s circle following the fourth race to be eligible to win.

The scholarships are available to Louisiana high school graduates and 2026 graduating seniors planning to continue their education, as well as current Louisiana residents enrolled in a Louisiana college or university. Funds may be used for tuition, books, and required study materials and will be paid directly to the recipient’s educational institution.

Awards are subject to LQHBA board approval, and recipients must participate in promotional photos and related publicity. For full eligibility requirements and application details, visit LQHBA.com or contact Executive Director Bruce Salard at (318) 487-9506 or bsalard@lqhba.com.

by Speedhorse

Two exciting Stakes Races took place today at Sunland Park! Here’s a sneak peek at the winners. Stay tuned for the full Stakes Results coming soon!

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OKLAHOMA CITY – If training races are any indication, count on the stable of owner Aurelio Juarez of Cleburne, Texas, to have a banner race meeting at Remington Park. 

For the second day in a row, a Juarez horse was the fastest of the day in 10 training races for first-time starters preparing for the upcoming American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa meet that starts next week on Thursday, March 5. Today, it was Just Delightful that was the swiftest of 10 races at 250 yards. 

A 2-year-old Utah-bred son of Corona Cartel, out of the Dash Ta Fame mare Our Genuine Delight, Just Delightful stopped the timer in :13.543 on a fast track to win his training race by a neck, earning a 78 speed index with a 10 mph tailwind. The wind, for the most part, did not deviate much from first to last race over the fast track while temperatures stayed around 70 degrees.

On Wednesday, Juarez owned the fastest runner with Running Cowboy 123 finishing in a time of :13.473 with a tailwind of 7 mph. Running Cowboy 123 was a $230,000 purchase for Juarez from the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale in New Mexico last year, but he got the bargain basement price for today’s fastest, buying Just Delightful for $45,000 from that same sale. Trainer J.J. Gonzales II will be handling both horses. Just Delightful was ridden to victory Thursday by the same jockey that rode Running Cowboy 123 in his training race, Jesus Olivas. 

How is this for pedigree on Thursday’s fastest horse? On the top side, Just Delightful’s sire Corona Cartel was a legendary Quarter Horse during his racing career and then became one of the all-time top sires in the history of the game. His progeny earnings exceeding $50 million. Corona Cartel won 6-of-14 starts lifetime, including the Grade 1 1996 Los Alamitos Million Futurity. He earned $557,142 on the track back when that was a huge amount of money in a Quarter Horse bankroll.

On the bottom side of the bloodlines for Just Delightful, Dash Ta Fame’s offspring have earnings of more than $37 million. The training race winner’s dam (mother), Our Genuine Delight, only raced four times, but won twice at Delta Downs in Louisiana.

Olivas didn’t break on top from the gate with Just Delightful, but was easily the winner at the finish without asking this horse to run. The colt did it pretty much on his own. J.J. Gonzales II had the top two fastest horses of the day and three of the top four. 

The other training race winners (2-year-old Quarter Horses unless otherwise noted), their times (in order of fastest to slowest winners), speed index, trainers and schooling race number: 

• Bett the Limit, :13.561, 78, J.J. Gonzales II, race seven
• My Flying Eagle, :13.640, 75, Guillermo Valdivia, race three
• High Flying Shake OK, :13.696, 72, J.J. Gonzales II, race nine
• AJ On Fire, :13.731, 71, Jorge Gonzalez, race eight
• Hes a Daytripper, :13.825, 67, Stacey Capps, race 10
• U Neeque (3-year-old), :13.828, 67, Kevin Goodnight, race two
• Money Bak, :13.842, 66, Jorge Gonzalez, race six
• Livewire Igniter (Paint), :13.864, 66, Jesus Ruiz, race one
• MW Wishyouhadahero, :13.865, 66, J.J. Gonzales II, race five

Thursday, February 26 workouts

A few horses of note trained Thursday morning before the schooling races. Two stakes winners and a winner of several prominent trials all went to the racetrack to stretch their legs over 220 or 250 yards – Catchn Southern Rays, Ding Dang Dulce and Allegiant Air.

It was the second official workout for the upcoming meet for Catchn Southern Rays, a 4-year-old Oklahoma-bred filly from the barn of trainer Stacy Charette-Hill. Catchn Southern Rays worked 220 yards in a time of :12.96, handily. It was the second workout for her in the past couple of weeks. She also stopped the timer for 220 yards in :13.20, handily.

Catchn Southern Rays is a daughter of Apollitical Jess, out of the PYC Paint Your Wagon mare Mary Paintyourwagon and is owned by Leann J. Burns. She won the Black Gold Fillies Futurity at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., on Nov. 12, 2024. Her best effort at Remington Park was winning a Heritage Place Oaks trial on May 11 last year as a 3-year-old. The filly also ran second in the Heritage Place Juvenile Stakes on June 1, 2024 in Oklahoma City. Her career record sits at 15 starts, six wins and two seconds for earnings of $301,704. Catchn Southern Rays was also bred by Burns.

Owner-trainer of Ding Dang Dulce, Haley Hobbs sent this 3-year-old Oklahoma-bred gelded son of Dulce Sin Tacha to the track for a 250-yard prep for his first race since Nov. 15 when he was last seen at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. This gelding, out of the Valiant Hero mare Valiant Strawfly, has won half of his races lifetime (4-of-8), including the Northlands Futurity at Canterbury Park in Minnesota on Aug. 21, 2025. Ding Dang Dulce was bred by Neff Hogue Farm. His career record is 8-4-1-1, $80,887.

Ding Dang Dulce worked in a time of :13.81, handily from the gate. 

Allegiant Air, a 3-year-old California-bred trained by Trey Wood, got a clocking of :13.91, handily at 250 yards. This filly, as a 2-year-old, raised some eyebrows in tough trials last year. The daughter of Favorite Cartel, from the One Famous Eagle mare Eagle On the Fly, won an All American Futurity trial on Aug. 4, 2025 in Albuquerque, N.M., but did not race in the final of that Grade 1 $3 million race. She also won a Ruidoso Futurity trial on May 24 without running in that final at Ruidoso Downs, and a West Texas Futurity trial on March 16 at Sunland Park. She did race in that final for owner Norman W. Allen, and could do no better than sixth. She was bred by Steve D. Burns, DVM. Her career record coming into this meet is 4-3-0-0, $57,785.

Courtesy of Richard Linihan, Remington Park

^{The Remington Park has provided more than $407 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District. The 2026 Remington Park American Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa Season begins March 5. Remington Park presents year-round simulcast racing and casino gaming. Guests must be 18 or older to wager on horse racing or to enter the casino gaming floor. Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.}