Los Alamitos: Separate Fire nails Ed Burke Million Futurity

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Separate Fire continued her domination of the 2-year-old division at Los Alamitos on Sunday with a near-perfect win in the $1,126,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity.

Ridden by Ramon Sanchez, Separate Fire ($6.60) broke well and led throughout the 350-yard race, winning by a neck over Kindly Fellow. Oceanik, the longest shot in the field at 41-1, finished third in the field of 10. Separate Fire was timed in 17.30 seconds.

Owned by Jose Trevino and trained by Paul Jones, Separate Fire won her second major race of the young season, preceded by the Kindergarten Futurity on May 22. In the June 12 time trials for the Ed Burke, Separate Fire broke slowly and finished third, but ran quickly enough to earn a berth in Sunday's final.

A filly by Walk Thru Fire, Separate Fire made no mistakes in the Ed Burke final, improving her career record to 4 wins in 5 starts and earnings of $605,082.

The Ed Burke is the first of three seven-figure futurities at Los Alamitos. The Golden State Million and Los Alamitos Two Million are run in the fall, and are long-term goals for Separate Fire, Jones said.