Lukas wins major Quarter Horse Futurity

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Check Him Out, a Quarter Horse sired by the Thoroughbred Hennessy, won Saturday's $477,100 Ed Burke Memorial Futurity at Los Alamitos for the owner-trainer team of D. Wayne and Laura Lukas.

The Burke, the summer's top futurity at Los Alamitos, was the most lucrative stakes win for the Lukases since they reopened a Quarter Horse stable three years ago. In the 1960s and 1970s, Wayne Lukas was a public trainer at Los Alamitos.

Ridden by Jacky Martin, Check Him Out broke with the field and took the lead in the final 50 yards. He ran 350 yards in 17.614 seconds, finishing a nose in front of Coyanosa, who was disqualified and placed eighth for veering out through the stretch. As a result, Bee Dashing and Agouti were promoted to second and third, respectively.

Check Him Out is co-owned by Zory Kuzyk. She campaigned Check Her Twice, Check Him Out's dam, who was briefly trained by Laura Lukas in the early 1990s before she made her debut. Check Her Out later became a stakes winner.

The Burke was Check Him Out's first appearance in a futurity final and improved his record to four wins in five starts and earnings of $212,382.

"The best is in front of him and that's a scary thought," said Wayne Lukas. Wayne Lukas said Check Him Out would not start in the trials for the All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs later this month.