The Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes Grade III

$100,000

4-Year-Olds & Up 1 1/16-Mile

continued

WINNER JOCKEY OWNER TRAINER 2nd 3rd

2001 First Spear (1:36.56) Chris DeCarlo Peachtree Stable

2000 Lucky J J (1:33.79) ** Pedro Rodriguez Richard Ciardullo, Sr.

1999 Marquette (1:35.16)^^ Jean-Luc Samyn J.R. Cavanaugh

1998 Sejm Run (1:25 1/5) Luis Gonzalez Harvey Tenenbaum

1997 Favorable Regard (1:24.2)& Kevin Whitley Suzanne Gladden

1991 Lee N Otto (1:49 4/5) % Willie Martinez Tedford M. Randolph

1990 Darian’s Reason (1:47) Eduardo Nunez Schweiger Stable, Inc.

1989 Slew of Angels (1:46) Ricardo Lopez Sam-Son Farm

1988 Storm Predictions (1:46 3/5) Steve Gaffalione Three G Stable

1987 Strike the Knight (1:45 2/5) Herson Sanchez J.M. Cutrona

Todd Pletcher Creek’s Shore A.P. Topper

Richard Ciardullo, Jr. Cool N Crafty Exclusive Dawn

Richard Violette Belfast Appeal Whatkindadealisthis

Julian Canet Rock and Roll Roguish Prince

Marshall Novak Chin Up Wilt the Tilt

Glenn Wismer Randy Striding Ruler

R.J. Richards, Jr. Gold Peak Stutz Blackkat

James E. Day Saratoga Spender Mitigated Bid

Luis Olivares Ruler's Guard What A Little Guy

John F. Reading Cannon Dancer Blair Cove

**- Stakes record, turf

%- Final 2-year-old running

^^- First turf running, 1 mile &- Reinstated, 3-year-olds

Fastest Time:

Slowest Time:

The Michelob Ultra Challenger Stakes Grade III

$100,000 MICHELOB ULTRA CHALLENGER STAKES

1:41.75 (turf) (dirt)

1:33.79

1:38.58

1:49.40 (turf) (dirt)

Longest Priced Winner: $61.60 (dirt)

Shortest Priced Winner: $ 3.00 $3.00

LUCKY J J

STANFORD (2000) (2017)

ADMIRAL LANCE

LEE N OTTO (2003) (1991)

CHEROKEE PRINCE (2006)

SKIPPYLONGSTOCKING (2017) (2023)

STANFORD

Closest Winning Margin: Neck Neck STANFORD SCALDING (2017) (2022)

Largest Winning Margin: 7 ½ Lengths

Shortest Priced Loser: $ .70

Track Condition: Firm Fast Good

DARIAN’S REASON (1990)

WIKI (2012)

All turf runnings

All dirt runnings except (2022)

Other Notes: Skippylongstocking continued to improve as a 4-year-old, making the Michelob Ultra Challenger his third Grade III victory. In 2022, Hall of Fame trainer Claude “Shug” McGaughey’s 4-year-old colt Scalding rewarded jockey Javier Castellano with his second victory in the Michelob Ultra Challenger, having won the event 2016 on Adirondack King. Last Judgment’s gate-to-wire victory in 2021 gave jockey Daniel Centeno his second Challenger triumph; he had won on Fierce Wind in 2009. In 2020, the 4-year-old colt Trophy Chaser made his first stakes victory a graded prize with his gutsy neck victory. It was also the first graded-stakes triumph for owner-trainer Juan Carlos Avila, who later that day saddled 49-1 shot King Guillermo for a Grade II Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby victory. The 2019 winner, Flameaway channeled his version of “déjà vu” to win the Challenger by a half-length in a determined effort reminiscent of his Grade III Sam F. Davis Stakes victory the previous season. It was the 4-year-old colt’s first victory in eight tries since the Davis. After trying Grade I competition in his four previous starts, classy 6-year-old veteran War Story rolled to a five-and-three-quarter length Challenger victory under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. In 2017, the 5-year-old Stanford became the first horse in track history to race the 1 1/16-mile distance in under 1:42, giving trainer Todd Pletcher a record fourth Challenger victory. The conditioner of 2016 Challenger Stakes winner Adirondack King, John Servis, trained 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones. Servis returned to Churchill Downs in 2016 to saddle Cathryn Sophia for a Longines Kentucky Oaks victory. The 2015 Challenger winner, General a Rod, competed in all three legs of the 2014 Triple Crown, finishing fourth in the Preakness. Fort Larned used his 2012 Challenger victory as a springboard to a remarkable campaign, culminating in a Breeders’ Cup Classic victory at Santa Anita. Fort Larned also won the Grade III Skip Away at Gulfstream (in trackrecord time); the Grade III Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap; and the Grade I Whitney Invitational Handicap at Saratoga. The Challenger started out at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt for 2-year-olds from 1987 – 1991. The 1988 Challenger winner, Storm Predictions, returned the following year to win the Tampa Bay Derby. The Challenger was contested at a mile on the turf for 3-year-olds from 1999-2003. The 2004 race was put back on the dirt for older horses. The 2006 renewal marked a track and stakes record for Cherokee Prince with Mike Allen aboard for his father, trainer Ron Allen, Sr. Another member of the Allen family, Ronnie Jr., was aboard Fort Larned in 2012. Willie Martinez has ridden three winners of the Challenger: Lee N Otto in 1991, Bold Start in 2010 and Colizeo in 2011. The 2010 Belmont Stakes winner, Drosselmeyer, finished fourth in the 2011 Challenger; he went on to win the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Classic.