Natasha Perez seeks Blue River Derby title with Escondido Gold

Natasha Perez is no stranger to the “blink and you’ll miss it” world of Quarter Horses.

Born in Michigan, her father was a trainer, and her mother was a jockey. Now a trainer, Perez will saddle one of the favorites, Escondido Gold (photo), in the $127,700 Blue River Derby Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

Perez started her career as a jockey riding around a “bull ring” she calls, “the best place on earth” -- the now defunct Mount Pleasant Meadows racetrack.

She rode every breed, but her greatest success was on the Quarter Horses. But in 2021, something changed. She still rode horses, but now in a different role, ponying horses she would train to victory, including the headliner of this weekend's 2025 Blue River Derby, Escondido Gold.

No stranger to success at Horseshoe Indianapolis, Natasha’s first stakes victories at the track came at the end of her jockeying career, winning the 2020 Heartland Futurity on the back of Shez Bodacious and the 2021 Indiana Grand Distaff Challenge Stakes on Jess Over Yonder as her second-to-last victory.

When she retired, she had garnered over $1 million in earnings as just a Quarter Horse rider alone but had won on the backs of Thoroughbreds and Arabians. But when it came to both riding and training, Quarter Horses were always her favorite.

“I like the speed,” Perez simply put it.

Natasha Perez with one of her horses, Porkyismyname, in her barn at Horseshoe Indianapolis

Perez’s entries on Saturday's card are numerous; at the top of the list are three horses in two of the major stakes races.

In the Gordon Mobley Futurity TW No Beach Secrets ran the second fastest trial of 17.961 seconds, only upstaged by the heavy morning line favorite HH Shakem Cate with a time of 17.815.

In the Blue River Derby comes a duo of horses, TW Trumps Secret finishing third in his trial, clocking the eighth fastest time of 20.107. But at the very top of the standings is her headliner, the only improving Escondido Gold with a time of 19.839. If the three-year-old son of Escondido Beach lives up to expectations and wins the Derby for Allen J. Brenner’s BFD Farms, he will become the richest horse she has ever trained. And he’s only getting better. 

“We figured he would be better as a three-year-old, being able to go farther. He definitely likes to run farther down the track,” said Perez. “We knew as a two-year-old he was a little limited that year, but we were really excited about this year. We think he’ll be able to go over 400 and maybe even 440 in the future. You can tell by just the way he works he was going to love the distance the farther he went the better he got.”

A trainer is one of the people who is around a horse the most and gets to know them on the deepest level. But Perez’s riding abilities give her a unique position as she ponies her own horses during training and even during races.

“I feel it helps them to know the person that is there. Keeps them a lot calmer and more relaxed. That's what I like, them to be relaxed. They know who I am, and I love that,” Perez said, who works alongside her husband, Saul, in the barn.

As the field of 10 canter to the starting gate this Saturday for the Blue River Derby be on the lookout for Escondido Gold and her trainer, moving as one toward their biggest prize yet.

Escondido Gold begins from post five with Diego Villamil Bocanegra in the saddle.

The Blue River Derby is one of four stakes on the program Saturday at Horseshoe Indianapolis. More than $700,000 in purse money is offered on the late morning program beginning at 10:45 a.m.

The races will be complemented by several trackside activities, including face painting and inflatables for the younger racing fans plus Quarter Four drawings, courtesy of the Quarter Horse Racing Association of Indiana (QHRAI).

Food trucks and winner’s circle giveaways will also be included as well as an appearance by Martha Claussen, nationally known Quarter Horse racing analyst who will be trackside to support the stakes program.

The 23^rd season of live Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing runs through Nov. 13.

For more information on racing at Horseshoe Indianapolis, visit www.caesars.com/horseshoe-indianapolis/racing or find details on social media @HSIndyRacing.

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