The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal, October 28, 2009 - A rematch of historic proportions takes center stage Saturday as champion Snowbound Superstar, winner of an American Quarter Horse record 15 consecutive races, meets 870-yard world-record holder Gone To The Mountain in the $125,000 Red Cell Racing Challenge Distance Championship (G1) over 870 yards, during the Bank of America Challenge Championships at Los Alamitos Race Course.
The two incredible geldings met once before, in the Red Cell Oklahoma Distance Challenge at Remington Park, with Snowbound Superstar (Snowbound (TB)-Shania Cash by Oh My Gee Whiz) gaining the neck victory in a classic duel that many horsemen calling it the best American Quarter Horse race of 2009.
Tom and Brenda Brinkley’s Snowbound Superstar, who is based at Los Alamitos in the Paul Jones barn, was then given a breather before surfacing in the Red Cell California Distance Challenge and was forced to work for his record-setting 15th consecutive victory. He blew the turn and had to catch the front-running Bad Act, who is also in the Red Cell Racing Challenge Distance Championship. Snowbound Superstar showed his enormous class by getting to the front in the final yard and prevailing in the photo by a nose.
Clyde Woerner’s homebred Gone To The Mountain (Panther Mountain-Lindys Bouquet by Fast Lindy) has been sensational since stepping up to the 870-yard distance in the past year. Last spring, he set the 870-yard world record at Sunland Park when he won the Red Cell New Mexico Distance Challenge (G3) by more than 7 lengths in :43.029.
Trainer Wes Giles prepared Gone To The Mountain for the Red Cell Distance Championship with two impressive 870-yard wins at Zia Park. He rolled to a 2-length win in a $37,000 allowance race and then won the $55,000 Herman Jefferson Stakes under a tight hold by three-quarters of a length.
The Bank of America Racing Challenge began in 1993 and since that time has distributed more than $52 million to breeders and owners of racing American Quarter Horses. 2009 marks the 17th year of the program with 71 regional, championship and undercard races. There is $5 million in total purses and awards for 2009, thanks to corporate partners, host tracks, horsemen and the Bank of America Racing Challenge Purse Fund.
The Bank of America Racing Challenge was created to increase racing opportunities for older racing American Quarter Horses, but the benefit of nominating is often seen in the sale ring where Challenge-enrolled horses have historically brought more money. The Bank of America Racing Challenge is the richest and most successful program in American Quarter Horse racing today – a championship series developed for the “World’s Fastest Horse.”
The Bank of America Racing Challenge will culminate with the six Challenge Championship races and six undercard Challenge stakes races on Saturday, October 31, at Los Alamitos Race Course in Los Alamitos, California. To learn more about the Bank of America Racing Challenge, visit racing.aqha.com/racing/challenge/index.aspx.