Los Alamitos Begins Winter Meet Dec. 6

The third and final Thoroughbred meet of 2019 at Los Alamitos Race Course begins Dec. 6, with racing Dec. 6-8 (Friday-Sunday) and Dec. 12-15 (Thursday-Sunday).

The seven-day winter season follows the 10-day Los Angeles County Fair at Los Alamitos meet in September and the nine-day Summer Thoroughbred Festival in June-July. Post time for the winter meet will be 1 p.m PT on weekdays and 12:30 p.m. on weekends.

Entries were taken Tuesday for the opening day program, with 67 horses entered in eight races.

The two-week meet will be highlighted by a pair of graded events for 2-year-olds: the $300,000 Starlet Stakes (G1) for fillies and the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2), both Dec. 7. The latter race, won in 2018 by Improbable for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, was downgraded this year from grade 1 status.

The Starlet and Futurity are expected to draw the runner-up finishers from the major 2-year-old dirt races from the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita Park. Anneau d'Or, second in the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1), is among the headliners anticipated for the Futurity, and Donna Veloce, second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), is being pointed for the Starlet.

The Starlet is a Road to the Kentucky Oaks series race that awards the winner 10 points toward a berth in the May 1 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs. The Futurity a Road to the Kentucky Derby series race in which the winner earns 10 points toward a spot in the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

The winter meet also features the return—after a one-year absence—of the $100,000 Bayakoa Stakes (G3). The Dec. 8 race for fillies and mares 3 and up is run at 1 1/16 miles.

Completing the stakes program are a pair of one-mile races for 2-year-olds bred or sired in California—the $100,000 Soviet Problem Stakes Dec. 14 for fillies and the $100,000 King Glorious Stakes Dec. 15.

Track gates—including the Clubhouse and Vessels Club—will open at 9:30 a.m. General parking is free, with grandstand admission $3 ($2 for seniors).

The wagering menu includes the Pick Six—with the traditional 70/30 split and no jackpot provision—a pair of $1 Pick 4's (races 2-5 and the final four races), and the popular Players' Pick 5, a 50-cent minimum wager with a reduced 14% takeout rate that is offered on the first five races.

The Dec. 14 program will feature a live money handicapping contest with two seats available to the 2020 National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

Track announcer Michael Wrona will return to call the daytime Thoroughbred races at Los Alamitos for the first time since the 2015 summer meet.