Page 146 - June 2018 Speedhorse

Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity-G2
WICKED AFFAIR
by Tracy Gantz
Owners Pete and Evelyn Parrella of Legacy Ranch Inc. and trainer Terry Knight have roots in both Quarter Horse and
Thoroughbred racing, but it was a Quarter Horse in the spotlight on May 20.
Their two-year-old bay filly Wicked Affair captured the impressive $321,800 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity-G2 at Los Alamitos.
Wicked Affair drew the outside post, allow- ing jockey Jesus Ayala to avoid some of the bumping that occurred inside of them.
The filly broke from the gates in fourth position and made up ground throughout the 300 yards.
She surged forward nearing the wire to win the race by 3/4-length in :15.360, posting a career-high 97 speed index.
Wicked Affair broke her maiden in her first start on April 14 at Los Alamitos. She then finished second by 1 1/4-lengths to fast- est qualifier SC Money Maker in her May 6 Kindergarten Futurity trial.
Wicked Affair’s trial clocking of :15.522
put her in the finals with the seventh fastest qualifying position.
Jockey Ayala has ridden the filly in all three of her starts.
The $135,156 win-
ner’s share she received for winning the Kindgergarten Futurity-G2 boosted Wicked Affair’s total lifetime earnings to $140,341 and she now has a race record of 3-2(1)-1-0.
“He said that on the night that she won, she was still pretty green,” said trainer Terry Knight.
“She really didn’t know what to do,” he stated. “She saw the horse in front of her and ran her down, but she needed more experience.”
Knight noticed that Wicked Affair had some minor health issues leading up to the tri- als, and he wasn’t sure that he would run her.
“It was a real tough decision,” he said. “It could have gone either way. She did terrific after the trial race. She turned around in four or five days, and she was back to herself.”
Knight was espe-
cially pleased to win the Kindergarten Futurity, now named for the late jockey Robert Adair.
“It’s a sentimental race because Bobby Adair is the one who gave me my start,” Knight said. “He believed enough of me when I was 19 years old that he gave me two horses to train for people he knew. Lo and behold, I won my first race for him.”
Knight is the son of the late Quarter Horse and
Thoroughbred conditioner Chay Knight. The Parrellas own Legacy Ranch in
Clements, California, and in Quarter Horse
Los Alamitos $321,800 • 300 yards :15.360 • si 97
Mr Jess Perry
One Sweet Jess
One Sweet Dash
WICKED AFFAIR, ‘16-f.
Corona Cartel
Burr Cold
Tender Flyer
144 SPEEDHORSE, June 2018
Wicked Affair and Jesus Ayala win the $321,800 Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity by 3/4-lengths.
RACING NEWS
Los Alamitos