Hawkish Continues Bonus Bid

Brilliant in his last two starts, Hawkish will be favored to move a step closer to a $1 million bonus tonight in the $400,000 Ed Burke Memorial Futurity.

By winning the Kindergarten Futurity at 7-1 odds on May 17, Hawkish, a 2-year-old son of Dash Thru Traffic, became eligible for the bonus. It goes to the horse who is able to sweep the Kindergarten, Ed Burke and Los Alamitos Million, which is run in December.

Owned by Enrique Gonzalez’s E G High Desert Farms and trained by Concepcion Balderrama, Hawkish was dominant July 12 when qualifying for the 350-yard Burke Memorial. The California-bred won by three lengths as the 3-10 favorite.

Hawkish is up against, among others, three 2-year-olds trained by Paul Jones. The meet’s leading trainer will be represented by Ocean Cartel, Summertime Fly and Sometimes You Win.

The picks: 1. Follow The Cash. 2. Catscape. 3. Red Ida Go. 4. Cash No Check. 5. Majestic Kite. 6. Dat Kip. 7. Power Failure. 8. Hawkish. 9. Miss Kipty Yawl. 10. Impeccable Timing.

Four! Use Sir Elton, Power Failure and Fiery Beduino in the seventh race, single Hawkish in the eighth, use Inkys Beda Roses, I Have Choices and Miss Kipty Yawl in the ninth and Impeccable Timing, Hayabusa, He Could Be The One and Harleys Comet in the 10th.

Shots in the dark: Mater makes debut for trainer Kelly Lewis in the first. Diamond On Her Mind should benefit from her previous in the third.

Post Time: 6:30 p.m.

On the Net: For entries and results from Los Alamitos, visit: www.latimes.com/horseracing/