SEPTEMBER MEET AT LOS ALAMITOS BEGINS FRIDAY, SEPT. 13
CYPRESS, Calif. – Two stakes worth a combined $200,000 highlight the 2024 September meet at Los Alamitos.
The six-day season will begin Friday, Sept. 13 and continue through Sunday, Sept. 22. Racing will be conducted Friday-Sunday (Sept. 13-15 and 20-22) both weeks. Post time will be 1 p.m.
The more lucrative of the stakes is the $125,000 Dark Mirage. The race at one mile for fillies and mares – 3-year-olds & up – will be offered Saturday, Sept. 21.
The other stakes event is the $75,000- guaranteed E.B. Johnston for 3-year-olds & up bred or sired in California. The one-mile race will be run Saturday, Sept. 14.
Grandstand admission is $3 and $2 for seniors 62 and older. Admission to Burgart’s and Vessels Club is $10. Tickets can also be purchased online at LosAlamitos.com.
Los Alamitos offers free general parking. Preferred parking is $5.
The wagering menu includes a pair of $1 Pick 4’s on races 2-5 and the final four races along with a $2 Pick Six as well as the Players’ Pick 5 – a 50-cent minimum bet with a reduced takeout rate of 14% rate – on the first five races.
The Pick Six will have the standard 70-30 split with 70% of the pool going to those tickets with six winners with the remaining 30% going to tickets with five of six winners.
The Los Alamitos Racing Association will seed the Pick Six with $10,000 Saturday, Saturday, Sept. 14 and Saturday, Sept. 21 provided there is no carryover.
There will also be a handicapping contest Saturday, September 21 and the LARA will offer a cash prize and a pair of berths in the 2025 National Thoroughbred Racing Association Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.
Cost to enter is $500. Of that amount, $100 will be placed in the contest prize pool with the remaining $400 going towards a live money wagering card.
Tournament races will include the entire card at Los Alamitos with permitted wagers including win, place, show, exactas, trifectas and daily double. Full contest information will be available here.
Entries for opening day of the September meet will be taken Tuesday, Sept. 10.
NONE ABOVE THE LAW TOPS E.B. JOHNSTON STAKES NOMS
None Above the Law (photo), the upset winner of the Bertrando Stakes during the Los Angeles County Fair earlier this year, is among 13 nominations to the $75,000-guaranteed E.B. Johnston Stakes.
The one-mile race for 3-year-olds & up bred or sired in California will be run Saturday, September 14, the second day of the September meet at Los Alamitos. The six-day season will continue through Sunday, September. 22.
Owned by Hector Castrellon and trained by Jorge Periban, None Above the Law, a 6-year-old gelded son of Karakontie, took advantage of a fast early pace to capture the Bertrando at 9-1 June 22. The win was his second in three starts at Los Alamitos.
Fast Draw Munnings and Shortman, the 2-3 finishers behind Kings River Knight in the 2023 Johnston, are also nominated.
A 5-year-old gelded son of Munnings, Fast Draw Munnings was claimed for $40,000 by trainer John Sadler for owner Hronis Racing LLC Aug. 31 at Del Mar.
Shortman, a 5-year-old son of Prince of Love owned by breeder Sergio Zepeda and trained by Genaro Vallejo, has earned three of his four wins at Los Alamitos and has been worse than third only once in nine local starts.
Other nominees to the Johnston include Barely Funtional, Coalinga Road, Cowboy Mike, Curlin’s Kaos, Dont Fight the Fed, El Rey Dorado, Fast Buck, Man O Rose, Red Cross Knight and Rhino.
Entries for the Johnston will be taken Wednesday, September 11.
LOS ALAMITOS THOROUGHBRED MEET BROADCAST
TO INCLUDE GRAPHIC SHOWING PROJECTED CLOSING ODDS
The Los Alamitos Thoroughbred Meet will feature an informational graphic on the track’s simulcast broadcast showing projected closing odds for win wagers on selected races based on a mathematical calculation using Will Pays for that given race.
The graphic will be branded at Los Alamitos as the “In Play” Projected Closing Odds, and will be based on Will Pays, particularly Pick 3s and Pick 4s, which are thought to be reliable indicators of a horse’s actual closing odds. During its Thoroughbred Meet, the track will be showing these “In Play” projected closing odds starting with the third race on Friday’s opening day card. The “In Play” graphic will be available shortly after the previous race has been run.
“We’ll be offering these projected odds on our simulcast feed with an easy-to-read graphic,” said Orlando Gutierrez, the marketing director at Los Alamitos Race Course. “We feel that giving horse players more information is a plus and from there each bettor, individually, can determine whether this information is helpful to their handicapping and wagering practices."
The LACF Thoroughbred Meet will open on Friday, September 13. The first post each day will be at 1 p.m. For more information, please visit LosAlamitos.com.
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