Page 158 - Speedhorse November 2019

AQHA Challenge Championship Weekend
AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championship-G1
SF HOT PASS
by Michael Compton
SF Hot Pass is a virtual win machine. The six-year-old brown gelding improved his already impressive resume with a game victory in the $266,250 AQHA Bank of America Challenge Championship-G1 at Albuquerque Downs on Oct. 26.
With regular rider Francisco Calderon in the irons for trainer Leon Bard, SF Hot Pass raced in contention throughout. He was in sec- ond away from the four-gate in the 440-yard event and quickly headed Eye N Capo.
The two competitors raced head-to-head as a team through the lane, with SF Hot Pass getting the best of his rival at the finish to win by a nose in a blanket finish.
SF Hot Pass clocked a final time of :21.607 and earned a speed index of 90. Runner-up and race favorite Eye N Capo, ridden by jockey Jesse Levario also earned a speed index of 90,
as did third-place finisher Jess My Kiss, who finished just a nose behind Eye N Capo, with Ramon Sanchez aboard.
With the additon of the $122,475 winner’s share
of the purse, SF Hot Pass raised his career bankroll to $275,699 for his owner Shannon “Stormy” Fisher.
It was the tenth win from 21 starts for SF Hot Pass, and the victory earned him a provi- sional berth in the Champion of Champions-G1 to be held at Los Alamitos on Dec. 14.
In his start just prior to
the Grade 1 AQHA Bank of
American Challenge Championship, SF Hot Pass tallied a 1 1/4-length win in the 350-yard
Nevill Stakes at Lone Star Park, making it back-to-back wins in that race.
And, prior to his victory in the Nevill Stakes, SF Hot Pass went wire-to-wire to win the TQHA 250 Stakes at Retama Park.
All told, SF Hot Pass has won four of his eight starts
at the 440-yard distance. He enjoyed a stellar 2018 cam- paign, rattling off four con- secutive stakes victories in the TQHA Classic Stakes-RG2, the Neville Stakes, the Refrigerator Stakes-G1,
and the B.F. Phillips Jr
Handicap-G3. He earned $91,250 in his perfect four-for-four season a year ago.
Downs At Albuquerque $266,250 • 400 yards :21.507 • si 90
Corona Cartel
Ivory James
Dashin Follies
SF HOT PASS, ’13-g.
Mr Jess Perry
Passem Up Perry
Southern Knockout
a b o v e : S F H o t P a s s w i n s
t h e A Q H A B a n k o f A m e r i c a Challenge Championship. left: Owner Shannon
“ S t o r m y ” F i s h e r w i t h daughter Ella Fisher, jockey Francisco Calderon a n d t r a i n e r L e o n B a r d .
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156 SPEEDHORSE, November 2019
Coady Photography