LOS ALAMITOS, CA—JUNE 5, 2017—Nearly 50 years ago, trainer C.R. " Chay" Knight saddled the AQHA Hall of Fame racehorse Kaweah Bar to victory in the 1968 running of the $30,240 Ed Burke Million Futurity.

Fast forward to 2017 and Knight’s son, the well-known Thoroughbred trainer Terry Knight, will look to win the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity after sending Legacy Ranch’s Corona Cartel colt Platki to a ¾ length victory and the fastest qualifying in the seventh of 12 trials to the million-dollar race on Sunday at Los Alamitos Race Course.

A total of 99 horses competed in the 350 yard trials with the Legacy Ranch-bred Platki posting the top clocking of :17.647. A full-brother to 2010 AQHA champion 2-year-old filly Flying Fig, Platki was second at the break, but quickly took a daylight lead before cruising to the wire under the guidance of jockey Jesus Rios Ayala.

Out of the Strawfly Special mare Tender Flyer, Platki improved his career record to a perfect two for two and will now be one of the favorites in the Ed Burke Million final to be held on evening of Father’s Day on Sunday, June 18 at Los Alamitos.

For the complete list of qualifiers to the Ed Burke Million final including times, sires, dams, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys CLICK HERE.

Terry Knight remembers watching his dad train the great Kaweah Bar. In his youth, Knight would ride his bicycle to the track and would watch his dad’s horses race from behind a parking lot fence. Knight has saddled over 900 winners in a successful training career that included winning the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Club Stakes with Frenchpark in 1994 and the Grade 2 Matchmaker Stakes at Atlantic City with Magdelaine in 1988.

In addition to his Quarter Horse stakes wins with the "Palomino Express" Kaweah Bar, Chay Knight also enjoyed many great wins with Thoroughbreds, including taking the 1981 Santa Anita Derby with Splendid Spruce.

The star of this night for Knight was the Legacy Ranch homebred.

"There’s been a lot going on at the ranch and this (win) is very important to us," said Pete Parrella, who along with his wife, Evelyn, operates Legacy Ranch. "I’m really happy for Terry and for all the guys at the ranch that have worked so hard. Shaun and Anita Hadley they raised this horse and I really want to thank them immensely for everything they’ve done for us. This is a great win for us and I just hope that the horse shows up in the final."

"It’s exciting and so much fun," Evelyn added. "And when you have a great horse, it’s even more fun. We have a lot of our friends here tonight and we come and enjoy it with them."

"We’ve been coming here since 1960," Parrella added. "Ed Allred has done a wonderful job. We’ve been racing here for a long time and I just hope we can continue (racing) here for many more years. We sent Terry five Quarter Horses when her first started training here again after Denny (Ekins) retired. He didn’t have this horse for more than two or three weeks when he called me and said ‘I just want to tell you something, I think you have something very, very special.’ I said ‘How can you know that? You haven’t even worked him yet?’ He said ‘When you’ve been around as long as I have, you can tell the difference. He’s a tremendous horseman and we’re so happy that he’s part of the team. We hope that bigger and better things come as time goes on."

Keith Nellesen of Mapleton, Utah campaigns the second fastest qualifier, KVN Corona. Also sired by Corona Cartel, which gives the legendary stallion the two top qualifiers to this year’s Ed Burke Million, KVN Corona won the sixth trial by a half-length while covering the distance in :17.657. Ridden by Ramon Sanchez for trainer Paul Jones, the McColee Land & Livestock-bred KVN Corona also improved his record to two victories in as many starts.

"I’m partners with Lance Robinson and we started McColee Land & Livestock really as a breeder of Quarter Horses," he said. "We love to go to the yearling sales and sell them. I actually personally bought KVN Corona and raised him. He’s a full brother to another horse that won the (2016 Los Alamitos) Super Derby named Big Lew. His mother (Executive Looks) passed away last year so he’s the last colt we had out of her so I decided I would try to buy him and got him and sent him to Paul. We’re really excited. He’s a really good horse."

Nellesen has been a part of the Ed Burke Million Futurity as an owner before under the McColee Land & Livestock banner. Their runner, Budder Think Twice, finished fifth in the 2015 Ed Burke Million as part of a field that included eventual winner Walk Thru Crystal, that year’s AQHA champion filly, plus Docs Best Card and Sale Topper.

"(The Ed Burke) is a great race," Nellesen added. "We’re really excited. We’ve been high on this horse (KVN Corona) for quite a while. We broke him in New Mexico with Mike Joiner. Mike was really high on this horse as well, but our plan was always to come with him to California."

Owner Steve Mickaelian first became involved in horse racing in the mnid-1990s. In 1998, the owner won the AQHA California Claiming Stakes with Mr Clean Jeans. The Signature gelding would then travel to Lone Star Park to win the $50,000 Professional’s Choice Claiming Stakes Challenge. "I thought this game was so easy," Mickaelian said. "It was only my second year in racing, I just figured that this would be so easy. Let me tell you nothing is ever easy in racing, but it’s worth it."

Mickaelian and Jose Flores’ Apollitical Stone made it look easy in the 11th trial of the night, as the Apollitical Jess gelding out of La Fantacia Stone covered the distance in :17.705 while posting a half-length victory to qualify with the third fastest time.

"I’m very happy," Mickaelian said. "I knew he could do it and he pulled it through. Jose offered me a half interest on this horse and I bought in. This horse has shown a lot of potential and really trained well since his first start, a second. He schooled in the gate and did beautifully and I thought that if he didn’t bump and didn’t get bumped that he would be right there.

"Apollitical Stone is my first Grade 1 finalist," the owner added. "I’ve been in this sport for about 21 years. I got into it for my dad. He had been sick. I’ve done a little breeding and just love the horses. I’ve enjoyed Los Al and looking forward to many more good times."

Cruz Mendez piloted the JEH Stallion Station Oklahoma-bred Apollitical Stone.

JGA Racing Stables’ Sumokinintheboysroom, a gelding by Pyc Paint Your Wagon out of Sumokin, posted the fourth fastest time of :17.713 following his convincing 1-1/4th length victory in the second trial. Bred in Arkansas by Corner K Quarter Horses LLC, Sumokinintheboysroom came into this race after being fractious prior to the start of his debut, in which he ended up running third.

"This horse has always shown ability and even in that race he was fractious in the gate, broke bad, stumbled, but came around horses and closed fast," trainer Juan Aleman said. "I knew that if I could straighten him out in the gate that we would have something. We put him in flipping halter and he behaved, broke good and finished strong. He looks like a promising horse and he’s paid into other nice futurities in the future."

Martin Arriaga rode the gray gelding.

Mark and Peggy Brown’s Jess My Kiss finished second to KVN Corona, but his time of :17.719 helped make the 14-1 longshot the fifth fastest qualifier to the million-dollar finale. Sired by One Sweet Jess and out of Dreaming Of Kisses, Jess My Kiss is a half-brother to 2016 Grade 1 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity sixth place finisher Kissed By An Eagle, which also won the John Deere California Juvenile Challenge last year.

Jesus Rios Ayala piloted the Idaho homebred. Dennis Givens trains Jess My Kiss. Givens is best known as the trainer for many top runners that raced for National Hot Rod Association legend Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen. That list included 2006 Los Alamitos Maiden Stakes winner Mongoose Hawkette, 2003 Town Policy Handicap winner Mongoose Jet Eye, which would later win the Grade 1 Vessels Maturity after McEwen sold her privately, Lancaster Handicap winner Mongoose Effort, the dam of Mongoose Jet Eye, and the stakes placed Mongoose Separatist.

Abigail Kawananakoa’s Chance To Fire delivered a head victory in the opening trial of the night while posting the sixth fastest time of 17.723. Ridden by Cody Jensen for trainer Chris O’Dell, the gelding by Walk Thru Fire came into this race after winning his debut by a half-length. Purchased at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale for $170,000 from breeder Ed Allred, Chance To Fire is a half-brother to the multiple stakes winning mare Nymph.

"He was little sluggish the first part of the race, but finished strong," O’Dell said. "That horse is wicked fast."

Lucky Seven Ranch’s Indescribaly Blue was second to Chance To Fire in this trial and seventh in the list of qualifiers with a time of :17.751.

Bred in California by her owners, the filly Indescribaly Blue is by Pyc Paint Your Wagon and out of Queens R Blue, the mother of Garden Grove Handicap winner and multiple graded stakes finalist Walk Around Blues. A six-time winner in her career, Queens R Blue was second in the 2013 Miss Princess Handicap and sixth in that year’s Grade 1 Vessels Maturity. Jesus Rios Ayala piloted Indescribaly Blue for trainer Mike Casselman.

EG High Desert Farms has won two runnings of the Ed Burke, first with AQHA champion colt Hawkish in 2003 and then with the aforementioned champion Walk Thru Crystal in 2015.

The racing operation will look to make it three wins in this race with the Valentin Zamudio-trained Remember To Dash, the runner-up to Platki in the second trial. Bred by Dr. Steve Burns and James Markum, Remember To Dash is a filly sired by the great First Down Dash and is out of the Grade 1 Ruidoso Derby winning mare Remember Me Rose. Cesar De Alba piloted Remember To Dash.

Reliance Ranches LLC’s SC Vapor Trail finished second to Apollitical Stone in the 11th trial, but her time earned her the ninth fastest time.

One of three Ed Burke qualifiers sired by Corona Cartel, SC Vapor Trail ran at Remington Park earlier this year before traveling to California and breaking her maiden in the Golden State. Out of the Grade 1 stakes winning AQHA champion Spit Curl Diva, SC Vapor Trail was ridden by Carlos Huerta for trainer Mike Robbins. Robbins and Reliance Ranches teamed up with Big Lew to win last year’s Los Alamitos Super Derby.

Trainer Jaime Gomez, which has won the Ed Burke four times, will look to make it five when he saddles the 10th fastest qualifier J Fire Up, which he bred and partly owns in partnership with Darling Farms and Ernesto Solis. Kiddy Up sired the filly out of This Boogie Fires. Ridden by Jose Nicasio, J Fire Up won her trial at 22-1 odds and upset a field that included the highly regarded Sweet 16.

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Ten different trainers qualified horses to the Ed Burke Million final on June 18. The trainers are Terry Knight, Paul Jones, Jose Flores, Juan Aleman, Dennis Givens, Chris O’Dell, Mike Casselman, Valentin Zamudio, Mike Robbins and Jaime Gomez.

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The total all-sources handle for the Ed Burke Million trials night was a season high $1,978,810, which also represented an increase of 11.5% from last year’s Ed Burke trials numbers. The figure was also the highest handle posted on Ed Burke Million trials night since 2007. This year’s card included three Pick Four wagers, which combined to handle $408,306 for the night.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.