Up To Party will try to become the first female to win the Ed Burke Million Futurity and the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity when she headlines a super field of juveniles in the 350-yard dash on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

© William Zuazo

LOS ALAMITOS, CA–SEPTEMBER 13, 2024–Dunn Ranch’s Up To Party will look to become the first filly ever to win both the Ed Burke Million Futurity and the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity when she headlines a super field of juveniles in the 350-yard dash on Sunday at Los Alamitos.

First post is 5:40 p.m. (Pacific) with the Futurity slated as the ninth and final race on the card at 9:24 p.m.

Three males have accomplished this rare double in the 43-year history of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity.

The AQHA champion colt Hawkish was the first to do it in 2013 followed by Kvn Corona in 2017 and his son, Political Rivalry, in 2023.

Now the undefeated Up To Party will try to join the list, as the daughter of Kiddy Up will look to score her fifth career victory in as many starts. Up To Party won the Grade 1 Ed Burke on June 16 in ultra impressive fashion and then returned to win her trial to the Grade 2, $285,000 PCQHRA Breeders Futurity after a 2 1/2-month layoff.

Bred by Ed Allred and Tom Siebly, Up To Party won her trial by 1 ¾ lengths while posting the second fastest time of :17.635. She was one of six qualifiers for trainer Monty Arrossa for this race.

"You always worry when you give them some time off," Arrossa said. "We gave her the time off after the Ed Burke. We put a couple of works in her and both were good. The filly has been doing everything right. She’s super sound and Anthony Montes, her groom, has been taking great care of her. You always worry when they get time off. How are they going to bounce back? She had pretty gate work at 220. She ran flawless and had a nice race tonight."

To be ridden by Armando Cervantes, Up To Party will start from the outside post number 10 and is the 7-5 favorite.

Meanwhile, Arrossa had a night he won’t soon forget on trials night, as he also qualified trial winners Levings Racing LLC’s Bottle It Up, who finished with the fastest qualifying time, plus AGMW Racing’s Fear N Fridays, Travis and Wendy Sexton’s Midnight Mood, Dunn Ranch’s Party Time Tom, and Buckway Ranch’s Ultimate Battle.

In his trial win, Bottle It Up broke on top even while lugging in and from there he sailed to an easy 1 ½ length victory. Ridden by Jesus Rios Ayala for trainer Monty Arrossa, Bottle It Up covered the distance in :17.574, while posting the second win of his career.

The Oklahoma-bred gelding by Tempting Dash came into the trials after running second to the sharp Apollitical Bet in the John Deere Los Alamitos Juvenile Challenge on August 10.

"Jesus Ayala got him out of the gate great and got him rolling," Arrossa said. "He ran a nice race. He had a nice race in the Challenge. He was closing on Apollitical Bet. It was only two weeks ago (before the trials) so he didn’t have a big turnaround."

The rest of the field will include Cavenaugh Quarter Horses’ homebred filly D Fawn, a winner in her local debut who also finished second to top qualifier Bottle It Up, and Reliance Ranches’ Snow Bound, who closed strongly to finish a neck behind Midnight Mood.

D Fawn, a daughter of Cavanaugh’s leading first-crop stallion Uncle D, is trained by Eddie Willis, while Snow Bound is trained by Paul Jones, who has saddled five PCQHRA Breeders Futurity winners in his career. 

Alipio Burgos and Jorge Quintero’s Malynche and Steve Burns, Mark and Marta Winslow and Jose Flores’ Bull Market completed the list of qualifiers. Malynche, who ran fourth in the Governor’s Cup, is trained by Lindolfo Diaz, while Flores conditions Bull Market, who is a full brother to 2022 Breeders Futurity runner-up Mornings With Maria.

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For more information, please contact larace@losalamitos.com. You can also follow us on Twitter or Instagram at @losalracing or visit us online at www.losalamitos.com.