ANCIENT RULER TAKES PCQHRA FUTURITY

COURTESY OF LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE

ANCIENT RULER IS KING OF RICH FUTURITY


The family of Quarter Horses that traces back to Millies Memories has been very kind to Edward and Theresa DeNike of Kent, Washington.

The couple won the La Primera Del Ano Derby with Kaniska last year, a filly out of Dashing Millie. The DeNikes enjoyed the biggest Quarter Horse win of their lives on Saturday, plus their first Grade 1 futurity to boot, after Ancient Ruler defeated Keilani Farms' Tailgunner Tom by a neck in the richest running ever of the PCQHRA Breeders Futurity. Ridden by Cesar De Alba, the gelding by This Snow Is Royal was sixth at the start before closing powerfully to capture the 350-yard race in a time of :17.49.

Ancient Ruler's dam is Streakin Millie, who like her sister Dashing Millie, is out of the DeNike's foundation mare - the 23-year-old Millies Memory.

"We don't own Streakin Millie anymore," said Theresa DeNike. "She was 15-years-old and Ancient Ruler was her seventh or eighth foal. She's had some nice runners but nothing really big. We had bred her to Stoli before we sold her but I love the family so much that I had to buy that Stoli filly when I saw her at the Heritage Place Sale in Oklahoma. I paid $16,000 for her," she added.

"We'd love to keep every one of our horses but the size of our ranch makes that difficult," Theresa continued.

"We have 15 acres in Kent (the ranch is named Big D Ranch)," said Edward DeNike. "In our area that's a lot of acres," said Edward DeNike. "We keep 20 to 25 horses there, including four Quarter Horse mares and five Thoroughbred mares."

One thing that the DeNikes definitely plan to have on a long-term basis are the services of trainer Patricia Visscher. "We run a lot of Thoroughbreds with different trainers all over the country and I have to tell you that this gal right here is the best trainer that we know," Edward added. "I'm not just saying that because she's standing right here. She truly is a remarkable trainer and a great person."

Edward DeNike is the President of SSA Containers. He has over thirty years of experience in terminal/stevedore management and operations. He has been the architect and terminal manager for several major facilities in San Francisco, Oakland and Long Beach. In 1986, he relocated to Seattle and assumed overall responsibility for SSA Marines West Coast container and select break bulk operations. The company leases waterfront terminals and we hire the longshoremen to load and unload the ships.

"We could have 20,000 longshoremen working in a day or 5,000," he explained. "It all depends on the amount of ships there."

Over the years, the DeNikes have campaigned some nice horses. In addition to Kaniska, they've also raced 2004 El Primero Del Ano Derby runner-up Ancient Mariner, 870-yard standout The Stevedore and allowance winner Ancient Relic.

Sent off at 9-1 odds, Ancient Ruler had only earned $6,325 coming into this race. The Washington-bred made out just fine with his win in Breeders Futurity, as he picked up a nice check for $199,080 to take his career earnings to $205,405. Meanwhile, De Alba continued his great season at Los Alamitos after enjoying his richest Quarter Horse triumph ever. All in all, it's been another nice week for De Alba, as he piloted five winners on Friday, including In Between Dreams in the Blane Schvaneveldt Handicap. De Alba had qualified First Down Apolo to this race for leading trainer Paul Jones. The jockey opted to ride Ancient Ruler instead.

"I had been coming in the mornings to work (Ancient Ruler)," De Alba said. "I worked him twice and I could see that he was a nice horse. I knew that he would run strong at the end of races and that he could be dangerous if ever put it all together. Of course, it was a tough decision not to ride for Paul. He's been giving me chances to ride live horses and for that I'm very thankful. I picked up the mount on First Down Apolo the morning of the draw to the Breeders trials and the horse ran a great race in the trials. But I didn't want to take off Ancient Ruler. My agent, Neil Bricks, and I have always liked Ancient Ruler. This was a tough decision because of Paul."

"Naturally I would have liked to seen Cesar on First Down Apolo," Jones said. "But in the end they made the right decision. They thought Ancient Ruler was the best horse and they were right because Ancient Ruler won. How can I be mad when they've made the right decision? I'm happy for Cesar and I'm very happy for Pat. They're good people."

Jones' charge, Tailgunner Tom, earned $80,580 for finishing second with Cody Jensen up. The Corona Cartel colt has finished second three times, as he was the runner-up to Velvetins in the Breeders trials and he was also second to Grateful Heart in an All American Futurity trial at Ruidoso Downs.

Bikers Bono, the second choice in the wagering at 9-5 odds, fractured his right knee after crossing the wire in third place. He was euthanized.

Velvetins, making her first start for trainer Abigail Kawananakoa, deadheated with Armando Leon's Fishers Destiny for fourth place. First Down Apolo, Royal Mystic Miracle, Daddy Dasher and Fast Movin Girl completed the field. Carters Cartel was scratched on Friday morning. He will be in action in the Golden State Million Futurity trials on October 19.