LOS ALAMITOS : Chapman Returns With a Winner

Kenneth Chapman can trace his involvement in quarter horse racing to the sport’s roots.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when quarter horse racing was in its infancy, Chapman was one of the nation’s leading jockeys, with victories in such races as the All American Futurity, Kansas Futurity and Los Alamitos Championship. Chapman rode for 19 years and won 263 races at Los Alamitos.

Today, Chapman trains 10 horses at Los Alamitos, including Her First Cin, a 2-year-old filly who is one of the leading qualifiers for the $102,726 California Sires Cup Futurity on Sunday, the year’s first stakes race for 2-year-olds in California.

Her First Cin is undefeated in two starts, including a victory in the Sires Cup trials on May 16 with the second-fastest qualifying time for Sunday’s final. Her First Cin is owned by Carol and Edward DeNike’s, whose horses make up the majority of Chapman’s string.

They also own Streakin Millie, another 2-year-old filly, who won a maiden race on May 15. Streakin Millie skipped the California Sires Cup, but Chapman has been equally impressed with both fillies.

“I think those two fillies will be good threats through the whole season,” he said. “They’ve showed some promise and a lot of run. (DeNike) has two more that look as good. Now, we need to get lucky.”

This meeting marks Chapman’s first full year on the backstretch in more than 10 years. When he quit riding in the late 1960s, he spent 10 years training, but quit in the late 1970s and worked on breeding farms throughout the West, preparing horses for racing careers.

As a jockey, he won the 1961 All American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, N.M., the third year the race was held. He was aboard Pokey Bar, who earned $101,212 for the victory. Last year’s All American Futurity winner, Dash Thru Traffic, won $1 million and a few years ago the total purse of the finals and several consolations reached $2.5 million.

Pokey Bar was the best of his generation. He was voted champion 2-year-old colt of 1961 and champion 3-year-old colt of 1962, the year Chapman guided him to victories in the Los Alamitos Championship and Los Alamitos Derby.

The decision to return to training was made last year. “I just decided I wanted to get back to the track,” Chapman said. “I wanted to see if I still have my talent. I think I do.”

In Sunday’s futurity, Chapman’s biggest concern is A Classic Dash, the top qualifier who is undefeated in two starts. A Classic Dash is owned by Abigail Kawananakoa and trained by Connie Hall.

Hall will be represented in each of the weekend’s three major races. She also trains Double Density, a qualifier for the Sires Cup, who has been third in her first two starts. On Friday, Hall will saddle Avison in the $94,940 El Primero Del Ano Derby and the next night will send out Chicks Got Pazazz in the $137,240 La Primera Del Ano Derby.

A Classic Dash has impressed Hall since the colt, by 1987 world champion First Down Dash, went into training last February.

“You feel the presence of a horse like this,” she said. “He’s no problem. He does things like an old horse.”

After the Sires Cup, Hall says A Classic Dash will be sent to Oklahoma City for the Heritage Place Futurity at Remington Park in July, but will return to California in the late summer for the Governor’s Cup and Ed Burke Memorial Futurity. At this point, the All American Futurity on Labor Day is not in the plans, but a strong race in the Sires Cup or Heritage Place could change that.