FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                       
        JUNE 20, 2009

CONTACT LOS ALAMITOS PUBLICITY
714-820-2690

LD FIRE AND STREAKIN LAQUINTA PRODUCE A FIRST IN ED BURKE
MILLION FUTURITY

LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, CYPRESS, CA.... The Orange County
Register billed the running of the Grade 1 Ed Burke Million
Futurity as a battle of the sexes, with seven talented
fillies taking on a trio of promising colts Saturday at Los
Alamitos. In the end it came down to two horses, one a filly
saddled by a male trainer that has dominated the futurity
division at Los Alamitos since 2005, the other a colt from
the barn of one of the sport's top female trainers of
all-time.

     It was filly vs. colt.

     It was man vs. woman. 

     Who would shine on the night of the Ed Burke trials?
All four.

      The filly LD Fire and the colt Streakin Laquinta put
on a show in the 59th running of the Ed Burke Million
Futurity, as they hooked up during the second half of the
350-yard race to produce the first dead heat in the history
of this race. The win makes LD Fire the only sprinter
eligible to win this year's $1 million Los Alamitos Cash
Bonanza. Streakin Laquinta is not paid up to the other two
legs, the Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Two Million,
and therefore not Bonanza eligible. 

      The dead heat is also the second one this season
between trainers Jaime Gomez and Connie Hall. In early April,
Twin Spires, who would go on to win the Kindergarten for
Gomez, and Hall's No Mor Sno finished in a tie for first.
That came in a maiden race. The stakes were a lot of higher
in the Ed Burke, as this is the first of three races
contested at Los Alamitos this season featuring a purse of
more than $1 million.

     Co-owned by breeder Mike Abraham, Jaime Gomez and
Alfonzo Pasquel, LD Fire broke out and bumped My Sexy Lady
after leaving the gate from post one. John and Kathie
Bobenrieth's Streakin Laquinta left the gate sharply but was
then hammered hard a couple of strides after the start. Colt
and filly managed to recover from their respective troubles
and were able to move to the front of the pack. With about 50
yards to go in the race it appeared that LD Fire was not only
going to catch Streakin Laquinta but would also sail right
past him. Streakin Laquinta had other plans in mind. 

       With Eddie Garcia in the irons, Streakin Laquinta
dugged in and would not let the filly past him by. The two
matched each other stride for stride right down to the wire.
A photo finish that probably felt like an eternity to the
interested connections could not separate the two. It was a
dead-heat.

       "(LD Fire's jockey) Alejandro Luna told me that he
had about a half length to make up on Streakin Laquinta,"
said Abraham. "She was at fault of the bump at the start. I
was sure that we had finished second, which is still a great
result for this type of a race. When I saw it was a dead heat
I started thinking what could have been if she had not made
that mistake at the start. I am happy right now. She finished
tremendously and battled back to get a share of the win. I'll
sleep really good tonight."

       Abraham and Ed Allred syndicated LD Fire's sire, Walk
Thru Fire, a couple of years ago. The owners have to be
delighted to see their stallion produce his second Ed Burke
Million winner since 2005. 

       "This is a big help for Walk Thru Fire," Abraham
said. "I think it's a vindication of what a great sire he is
right now and will continue to be. He was such a big star
right away with horses like Higher Fire (who won the Ed Burke
and 2005) but we knew that there would be a lull right after
that. We had high expectations of him this year and we think
this vindicates him. He's a young stallion and you'll hear a
lot about him for the next 10 years and beyond."

      LD Fire and Streakin Laquinta each earned $283,200 for
the split decision. Not bad for a night's work that featured
a 350 yard time of :17.341. 

      "LD Fire showed her guts tonight," Abraham continued.
"I think the plan will be to keep her here in California and
chase the Bonanza. She's not in the All American Futurity so
we would have to pay $50,000 supplemental fee. I think it's a
big longshot that we take her to New Mexico. We won't rule it
out completely but most likely we'll stay here and try to win
Doc Allred's million-dollar Bonanza. The filly has a minor
little shin issue that we'll look at right now. She's earned
herself a break, so most likely you'll see her again in the
(October) trials to the Golden State Million Futurity." 

        LD Fire also gives trainer Jaime Gomez wins in 13 of
the last 27 Grade 1 or Restricted Grade 1 futurities
contested at Los Alamitos since 2005. 

      Streakin Laquinta, meanwhile, could be headed to New
Mexico if he comes out of this race in fine form. Unlike LD
Fire, the son of the recently deceased stallion Streakin La
Jolla is eligible to run in the All American. 

      "He is a (January) foal so we felt that he would
develop early and do his best in the early futurities," John
Bobenrieth said. "With his breeding we feel that he could
handle the 440 yards, so that became the plan. It looks like
this could work out well.

     "We had Ah Commotion win the PCQHRA Breeders Derby a
couple of years ago and of course A Ransom won a lot of big
races but this is our first futurity winner since Chicks
Beduino," Bobenrieth added. "It doesn't matter to us if it
came in a dead-heat or not. This is big and it's a lot of
fun." 

     And just like it was the case for LD Fire, Streakin
Laquinta could have had this victory all to himself if only
he had avoided trouble early on.

     "There was stuff going on in the middle of the track
and he ended up getting caught on his back end," Bobenrieth
said. "But I guess that's good because everyone else is
getting in trouble behind you. Eddie did a great job handling
this horse. He deserves a lot of the credit."

      The Bobenrieths' Pazazz Quarterhorses Ltd. is the
breeder of Streakin Laquinta, who is the first foal out of
the stakes winner A Sisstar. She is a full sibling to the
aforementioned World Champion A Ransom and the Oklahoma-based
stallion Righteous Brother, who stands at Belle Mere Farm in
Norman.   

     Eddie Garcia, meanwhile, continues to fool Father Time.
The veteran pilot has now won each of the last three million
dollar futurities contested at Los Alamitos. He won the
Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Two Million futurities
last year with Tres Passes.

    "Life can turn you upside down and then right side up,"
Garcia said. "You just never know. Five years ago I was
hurting a lot of because of a knee injury. I wasn't making
any money but now I'm winning million dollar races. It feels
good to be back at the top. 

     "This horse was great out of the gates," he added.
"Then they took his back legs out. They took his air out
right at the second jump. I just held the horse the best I
could and he recovered. He's an athletic horse. He's a
natural horse. He wanted to run for me. I saw LD Fire at the
gap. I started yelling at Streakin Laquinta so that he would
go on. Forty yards before the wire we hooked up. I thought I
had the better last jump but she was tough. I think another
split second and I would have been ahead of her. That's just
how horse racing goes."

      Connie Hall has had a couple of quiet years in the
futurity front but this big victory will certainly bring
about a nice boost for the talented trainer. 

     "I've never won this race before so it's definitely
exciting," she said. "Any time that you win a race it's an
exciting deal. When that happens you just get caught up in
the action of the race. You forget about the money. Then
reality hits you and it feels great. 

     "I love to train horses. I love being around horses. As
a trainer I want to do everything I can to improve a horse. A
horse will make a trainer. A good horse will drag you along
for the fun. Our job is to take care of the horse and hope
that the horse co-operates with what you're trying to
achieve. If a horse can't run you can't win races. It's as
simple as that. I only have four 2-year-olds this year but
times are tough so I'm glad to have what I have. John and
Kathie have been so loyal to me that I'm just thrilled to be
able to be a part of this moment. 

     "It looked like Streakin Laquinta got squeezed at the
start," she added. "He's not a big horse but he does carry
good weight and he is long but not very tall right now. He'll
keep growing. If he is okay, we'll look to take him to the
All American. What happens sometimes is that a horse looks
fine right after the race but it is in the next couple of
days when things start to fall apart. I've gone to Ruidoso
and won the race and I've gone and done okay. I've also gone
and lost. It's a tough race to run in. We'll see what happens
in the next few days."

     Gianni Samaja's Three Times The Toll earned $115,200
for finishing third for jockey Ramon Sanchez and trainer Paul
Jones. Rancho El Alacran's My Sexy Lady earned $67,200 for
running fourth. Mollys Cartel ran fifth. Rocco Rojo, Tools Of
Fire, Dashingfordestiny, Fire Specialist and Shining First
Dash completed the field.

      Earlier in the evening Kindergarten Futurity finalist
Tylerite won the Ed Burke Juvenile for Ron Keller and Ronnie
B. Keller. G.R. Carter piloted the TR Dasher gelding for
Blane Schvaneveldt.

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