TW Streakin Cowboy lassos field in $112,920 Horseshoe Indianapolis QHRAI Derby

TW Streakin Cowboy completed his two-year-old season last year with a win in the Governor’s Stakes. Now, he begins his stakes season with a win in the $112,920 Horseshoe Indianapolis QHRAI Derby Final with jockey Diego Villamil Bocanegra aboard.

The sophomore gelding was the second fastest behind WR Hott Shott in his trial heading into the final Thursday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

TW Streakin Cowboy began from post five and was a factor early in the center of the track. Heza Hawkeye and Bryan Candanosa held the top spot through the early stages of the 400-yard dash before TW Streakin Cowboy took over in the final strides, moving out to a length advantage at the wire in a time of 19.739 seconds.

Heza Hawkeye finished a head in front of WR Hott Shott and Eduardo Diaz for second.

TW Streakin Cowboy was the favorite, paying $3.40 for the win. The sorrel son of Flying Cowboy 123 is owned by breeder Thomas Wylie of Ohio and trained by former Indiana Quarter Horse jockey Natasha Perez. He pushed his career bankroll to more than $265,000 with the win. He is now four for seven lifetime and has only finished worse than second one time in his career, which was his very first start when he reared at the start and lost his rider, Villamil Bocanegra, who has been aboard for all his outings.

TW Flying Cowboy is a second generation runner for Wylie as he also campaigned his mother, WH Imastreakinbeach, a daughter of Indiana super stallion Escondido Beach, who was a multiple stakes placed competitor during her racing career that brought in more than $100,000 in earnings.

“Our team has done an amazing job with this colt,” noted Perez atop her pony horse, Marshmallow, following the winner’s circle presentation. “My whole team has worked so hard and they deserve credit. I want to thank the owners of this horse (Tom Wylie). They are such good owners. He had such a good two-year-old season, we really did think he would come back strong this year at three. We are excited for this season. And, he loves to get his picture taken.”

Perez is once again among the top five Quarter Horse trainers on the year. Although she still gets aboard some of her horses in the morning and ponies all her horses during racing, she moved from riding to training in 2022 and has accumulated 56 career wins to date, and multiple stakes winner TW Streakin Cowboy is now the top horse she has trained by earnings.

A Michigan native and daughter of all-time leading female Quarter Horse jockey Julie Veltman, Perez won her first Graded Stakes race in 2024 with WRs Mynameisrip in the Restricted Grade 3 Miss Roxie Little Futurity at Horseshoe Indianapolis. Her husband, Saul, and her daughter Hanna work with her in the barn, making it a family operation.

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