ENTRIES FOR THURSDAY, JANUARY 8 CAN BE VIEWED HERE

IMPORTANT NOTE: A memorial service for jockey Sam Thompson will be held at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos, California on Monday, January 12 at 2 p.m. A reception will be held at Los Alamitos Race Course immediately following the service. Cottonwood Church is located at 4505 Katella Ave., Los Alamitos, CA 90720. Cottonwood Church's Office Number is (562) 493-4442

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Los Alamitos racing  program.

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Jeff Jerman and Terrific Energy after winning the Charger Bar Handicap

   Other horsemen who enjoyed a fine opening week in the Quarter Horse ranks include owners Steve Burns and Jose Santos and trainer Dan Francisco.  Steve Burns only had two horses starting this week, but managed to run first and second with those runners.  His two starters included Spanish Remuda, who won the ninth race on Saturday, January 3rd, and Miss Kittys Bar Bet, who led until the final strides of the Grade I Charger Bar Handicap before winding up second-best on the same night.  Jose Santos also impressed with two wins and one second from three total starts.  Trainer Dan Francisco kicked the year off the right way as well, winning two races from only four starts.  He won races with the heavily-favored Belichick on Sunday night and Better Together on Saturday evening.

             The first week of the 2009 racing season was also an interesting one for Thoroughbreds as well, as two trainers in particular enjoyed dynamite starts to the New Year.  In addition to winning the very first race of 2009, Charles Treece, last year's Thoroughbred trainer of the meet at Los Alamitos, also pulled off the impressive feat of winning all four thoroughbred races of the day on Saturday, January 3rd plus one Quarter Horse race. From 15 total starts, he sent out 5 winners, one runner-up, and two horses that showed.  This marked the first time that Treece had saddled five winners in a single racing night at Los Alamitos and even at this early stage, it seems as though Treece is already on his way to 11th Thoroughbred training title at Los Alamitos.

            Trainer Jim Hanson also had a banner week.  From only five starts, Hanson already has four wins to his credit, including three victories on opening night on Friday, January 2nd.  His three wins that evening included A Run For Penny, Hey Dew, and Super Snoop.  The fine training job that he did this week resulted in a remarkable 80% winning percentage for the trainer. 

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