WINTER THOROUGHBRED MEET BEGINS FRIDAY, DEC. 6;
FOUR STAKES WILL BE OFFERED DURING 6-DAY SEASON
CYPRESS, Calif. – Four stakes worth a combined $600,000 highlight the 2024 Winter Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos.
The six-day season will begin Friday, Dec. 6 and continue through Sunday, Dec. 15. Racing will be conducted Friday-Sunday both weeks (Dec. 6-8 and Dec. 13-15). Post time will be 12:30 p.m.
The first of the stakes races is the Grade II, $200,000 Starlet for 2-year-old fillies. The race at 1 1/16 miles will be run Saturday, Dec. 7.
One week later – Saturday, Dec. 14 - the Grade II, $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity will be offered. The race – which will also be run at 1 1/16 miles – is for 2-year-olds.
Completing the schedule are a pair of races at one mile for 2-year-olds bred or sired in California. The $100,000 Soviet Problem – for fillies – will be run Sunday, Dec. 8 while the $100,000 King Glorious – for colts and geldings – will be contested Sunday, Dec. 15.
Grandstand admission is $3 and $2 for seniors 62 and older. Admission to Burgart’s is $10 and Vessels Club is $10. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://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.
There will also be a handicapping contest Saturday, Dec. 14 and the Los Alamitos Racing Association 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 doubles. Full contest rules will be available at http://losalamitos.com/.
Entries for opening day of the Winter Thoroughbred meet will be taken Tuesday, Dec. 3.
PRACTICAL DREAM AMONG 30 NOMINEES TO STARLET STAKES;
BULLARD, GAMING, CITIZEN BULL HEAD LOS ALAMITOS FUTURITY NOMS
Practical Dream, who upset prohibitive favorite Silent Law to win the $98,000 Desi Arnaz Nov. 16 at Del Mar, is among 30 2-year-old fillies nominated to Grade II, $200,000 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos.
The race at 1 1/16 miles will be run Saturday, Dec. 7, the second day of the upcoming Winter meet. The six-day season will begin Friday, Dec. 6 and continue through Sunday, Dec. 15.
The Starlet is the first of two graded events for 2-year-olds at the meet. The $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity – which is also contested at 1 1/16 miles – will be offered Saturday, Dec. 14 and attracted 25 nominations.
Owned by Pierre and Leslie Amestoy and Roger Beasley and trained by Tim Yakteen, Practical Dream (left), a daughter of Practical Joke and the In Excess mare Inforeal, led virtually throughout to win the Arnaz by 1 ¼ lengths. She’s now 2-for-3 with earnings of $123,486.
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who is seeking his seventh consecutive win in the Starlet, has 13 nominees this year. Besides Silent Law, the list includes Casalu, Cash Call, Cipriani, Howin, Lelluri, Mawu, Maysam, Non Compliant, Nooni, Showers, Tenma, winner of the Grade I Del Mar Debutante and Two Bar.
Baffert, who has won the Los Alamitos Futurity eight times, has 10 nominated to this year’s renewal with the list headed by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull and Gaming, winner of the Grade I Del Mar Futurity.
The other Baffert nominees are Emerald Bay, Getaway Car, Just Deal, Kalea Bay, King’s Road, Madaket Road, Mellencamp and Zabo.
Bullard, who is 2-for-2 after an authoritative win in the Grade III, $100,000 , Bob Hope Stakes Nov. 17 at Del Mar, Iron Man Cal, who was second – defeated by a neck by Henri Matisse - in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Nov. 1, and McKinzie Street, second in the Del Mar Futurity and third in the Grade I American Pharoah Oct 5 at Santa Anita are other significant Futurity nominees.
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, December 6. The first post each day will be at 12:30 p.m. For more information, please visit LosAlamitos.com.
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