LOS ALAMITOS, CA—JUNE 20, 2010—A couple of years ago, Utah State Senator David Hinkins stated his love for racing with a few simple sentences. "Horse racing is not just a passion for us - it's an obsession," he said while also speaking on behalf of his brother Ross Hinkins during an interview. “Of course, our dream would be to race in a big race. We plan on racing our horses in California for a long, long time."

He stated those words in 2007 and three years later, the brothers’ dream is a reality, as the David and Ross Hinkins not only raced in a big race – they were part of Saturday’s $1,064,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity at Los Alamitos – they won the big race courtesy of the 29-1 longshot First Down Illusion.

With Rodrigo Aceves in the irons for trainer Adan Farias, the Zory Kuzyk-bred First Down Illusion defeated Legacy Ranch’s Flying Fig by a half-length while covering the 350 yards in :17.248. The victory now makes First Down Illusion eligible to win the $1 million Los Alamitos Cash Bonanza, the track’s version of the Triple Crown.

The running of the Ed Burke Million Futurity was marred by the injury of fastest qualifier Leave The Scene. With G.R. Carter in the irons, Leave The Scene crossed the finish line in sixth place and a few strides later fell down after suffering an injury to his left front leg. Star In The East stumbled over Leave The Scene and also hit the ground.

The filly walked away from the fall under her own power. Neither Carter nor Star In The East’s jockey, Ramon Sanchez, appeared to be injured because of the fall. Leave The Scene was euthanized.

The complete order of finish is as follow: First Down Illusion, Flying Fig, Personal Glory, More Than You Know and All N The Jeans (dead-heat for fourth), Leave The Scene, Jose Pablo, Favorite Admirer, and Star In The East. Pushing Dazies was an early scratch.

Purchased at the Ruidoso Yearling Sale for $24,000, First Down Illusion earned $430,080 after breaking his maiden in the Ed Burke Million. The son of First Down Dash and out of a female family that has to be one of the most decorated in Quarter Horse racing, First Down Illusion is now the nation’s number one horse in money earned with $433,135.

His pedigree did not escape David and Ross Hinkins when they were perusing the Ruidoso sale catalog. His dam, Fishers Fantasy, is a half sister to stakes winners like Check Her Twice, First Femme, Dash To Chivato, Fishers Dash, etc. Fishers Fantasy traces back to AQHA Hall of Fame mare Do Good. And then there’s First Down Illusion’s sire, the legendary First Down Dash.

“We bought eight First Down Dash yearlings last year,” said David Hinkins. “We bought seven at Ruidoso and one at the Los Alamitos Equine Sale. We’ve done well in the past running our nice cheap horses, but we wanted to run in stakes races and we felt this was the right time to step up our racing operation.”

The brothers, who operate an industrial mining supply company in central Utah, spent about $210,000 in acquiring their eight First Down Dash babies last year. In the time that it took First Down Illusion to go from wire to wire in the Ed Burke Million, the brothers more than doubled their entire 2009 investment on First Down Dash with this victory.

“I told them that they couldn’t go wrong buying First Down Dash babies,” trainer Adan Farias said.

“First Down Dash babies know how to read the racing program,” Hinkins said with a laugh. “They can read when the big purses are on the line. That money that we spent on the First Down Dash babies has proven to be a bargain.”

The Hinkins arrived at Los Alamitos to run their horses in 2006-07. They had previously had horses at Los Alamitos, but now the year-round racing, the endless racing opportunities, and the ease, comfort, and ability of watching the races live on TVG sparked their interest in returning to the Orange County oval.

“It’s encouraging whenever you win a race like this,” added David Hinkins while flashing a huge smile. “We have 16 horses here and we’ll ship two more horses soon. We have eight horses in Montana and after the futurities there we’ll send those horses here in the winter. We just feel that Los Alamitos is the place to be.”

David is the industrial mining company's president, while Ross is the vice-president. A third brother, Todd, is also part of the company. In addition, the Hinkins operate the Rainbow Glass Ranch, which serves as home to hundreds of horses, including stallions, broodmares, ranch horses, plus cattle and more. On the night of the Ed Burke Million Futurity, the brothers were on hand in the Vessels Club accompanied by their wives, three of their five sons and several other family members and friends.

“I think they’re all hooked on racing now,” Ross said with a big laugh. “Half of them drove and half flew down here. Even David’s wife decided to come out and she never comes to the races.”

Located in Ferron, Utah, the Rainbow Glass Ranch is home to stallions Cash Inxs, Chicks Noblesse, Hugo Streakin, King Aire, Luckyme Lonely You, and Ralph Ryon, and there’s certainly room in the stallion roster for First Down Illusion when that time does come.

“And we almost gelded him,” David Hinkins said. “He was a handful, but Adan and his crew put a lot of extra time with him. Others may have given up on him. He was a menace, but the crew worked hard to help him.”

“This was such an unexpected win,” Farias said. “This horse was a demon. It got to the point that we were ready to cut him. The owners gave me permission to geld him, but in the end I decided to wait and we gave him a little more time. He was a complete handful and very tough to handle. Rodrigo Aceves worked hard with him at first, but then when he got hurt Francisco Rubio started working with him. When we knew that Francisco was going to ride (Jose Pablo) in the Ed Burke Million, Rodrigo started working with this horse once again. This win is a big surprise. When the gate opened for the start of this race, I just saw this white in front of the field. I didn’t think he could do it, but we knew that he had settled down a lot and he was improving.”

A few days earlier, when track photographer Scott Martinez was out in the barn area shooting portraits of each Ed Burke Million qualifier, First Down Illusion put on a show. For over 10 minutes the colt flapped his lip, swung his head back and forth, and grinned to the camera with confidence. A menacing demon he was not. His attitude was that of a colt with happy thoughts. In the winner’s circle after the race, that’s when First Down Illusion settled down while allowing the photographers to take the winning snapshots.

Already a winner of nearly $450,000, First Down Illusion will now set his sights in the next two legs of the Los Alamitos triple crown: the Golden State Million Futurity and the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity. And there could very well be another futurity outing in the mix.

“I’ll need to speak to the owners about that,” Farias said. “We’ll have to evaluate the situation because he is eligible to a couple of other races. If he does run in another futurity I think it will help him because he will gain more experience. Then again that could mean that we would be risking an injury. What we will do is what we decide is the smart thing for the horse.”

Farias, who is currently the track’s leading Quarter Horse trainer, was enjoying not only his first victory in a million dollar race, but also his first ever futurity win.

“They say that the first futurity is hardest one to win,” Farias. “Hopefully I can follow this victory with a few more.”

Legacy Ranch’s Flying Fig earned $174,080 for her runner-up effort in the Ed Burke. Trained by Denny Ekins and ridden by Alex Bautista, the daughter of Corona Cartel hesitated slightly at the start before closing powerfully to make things close for the win at the wire.

“(First Down Illusion) broke with the gate and we didn’t,” said Pete Parrella of Legacy Ranch. “We lost about a half length at the start and that was the difference in the race. Having said that, she was going against a lot of nice horses and we are tickled to have been in this race. We are thrilled for her to be second in this race. I think her future will be better as races get a little longer. This is great for the ranch, it’s great for our ranch manager Shaun Hadley, it’s great for everyone that works so hard for us.

“I got nervous as we got to about five minutes to post time,” Parrella added. “The adrenalin was pumping. When I saw she broke tardy I was a little upset because I knew we would have to run lights out from there. She beat everyone except one horse and for this being only her third race I thought she ran an impressive race. There were 113 horses in the trials and she was one of the 10 to qualify to this race. Now she’s finished second in this race, I think that’s pretty good company. We’re tickled pink about it. I know that you can’t win every race. Other than an injury to a horse, the most disappointed that I’ve ever been in my racing career is when my horse Griswold got beat at Santa Anita by Valiant Pete. That was a very tough loss. I learned my lesson from that race and now in racing I take it as it comes. For Flying Fig to qualify ninth and finish second, we are tickled pink".

Dutch Masters III’s Walk Thru Fire filly Personal Glory earned $122,880 for her third place finish in this race. She was ridden by Carlos Huerta for trainer Jaime Gomez. More Than You Know and All N The Jeans each earned $66,560 for finishing in fourth place.

First Down Illusion’s victory at 29-1 did not produce the biggest payout in a race associated with the Ed Burke. That honor went to Gustavo De La Torre’s One Sweet Jess, who won the $30,000 Ed Burke Juvenile Stakes by 1 ¼ lengths at odds of 32-1. Ridden by Santiago Mendez for trainer Ugo De La Torre, the Mr Jess Perry colt earned $16,500 after finishing ahead of Ed Allred’s Frosty Younger. Filthy Fast was third, while Bf Farm Boy ran fourth. Snowbound Jeffrey, Lady Mimosa, Down The Fairway, and Like A Zephyr completed the field.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com