GJR Rooster Posts Fastest Sam Houston Distance Challenge Qualifier

GJR Rooster wasted no time in his 2026 return, and the stopwatch made the point clear. The 5-year-old gelding won the second of two trials for the $43,478 Q-Racing Video Sam Houston Distance Challenge (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park on April 25, covering 870 yards in :46.493 to post the fastest qualifying time for the final.

That effort gave trainer and co-owner Zack Stinebaugh, who shares the horse with Richard Yates and Joe David Yates, a clean opening to the campaign. Gilberto Linares had the mount as GJR Rooster, by This Is An Eagle out of the A Little Illegal mare Granny Grump, delivered a sharp answer to the rest of the division. For a horse bred in Texas by Gerald Rich, the return fit the profile he built last season, when he started seven times, hit the board in all seven, won three races and earned $121,466.

The resume already carried weight before this trial. GJR Rooster won the 2025 Benny Pennington Memorial Stakes (RG2) at Retama Park by 2 3/4 lengths, clocking 870 yards in :45.955 with a 95 speed index. He also finished second in the Grade 1 Q-Racing Video Distance Challenge Championship at The Downs at Albuquerque behind Emilio Perez’s Handin Out Candy, a result that underscored where he belongs when the races turn serious. This qualifier suggested little has changed.

The rest of the final line-up adds more pressure than comfort. Fire Bolt B earned the second-fastest qualifying time at :46.531 after taking the first trial on April 24, and Equibase listed Hezamonzter and Big Lew Love behind him in that race over a fast track. Tony Sedillo’s runner has now won three straight, a form line that makes him a dangerous pace factor when the final comes back around.

DM Special Cat also stamped himself as a live player by rallying from fourth to finish second in the other trial and stop the clock in :46.575. The other qualifiers, Hezamonzter, Big Lew Love, Jump Go Gone, KVN Valiant Corona and Music Dash, round out a final that mixes established ability with enough depth to keep every trip honest.

The bigger picture is what makes GJR Rooster’s qualifier matter. The Q-Racing Video Distance Challenge is an 870-yard race for 3-year-olds and up, and the winner of the May 9 final will keep the door open to the AQHA Racing Challenge Championships on October 17 at The Downs at Albuquerque. With Sam Houston Race Park’s Quarter Horse season running through June 13, this first step already looks like the opening chapter of a horse who may still be the one to beat in the distance division.