Los Alamitos Concludes Successful Summer Meet

An impressive stakes debut for Uncle Chuck, a successful return to California for Sneaking Out, and a two-turn tally for Cezanne highlighted the Summer Thoroughbred Festival at Los Alamitos Race Course. The brief seven-day season concluded July 5.

A son of Uncle Mo  and the Unbridled's Song mare Forest Music, Uncle Chuck toyed with three rivals in the July 4 Los Alamitos Derby (G3) in his first start since a winning by seven lengths in his June 6 debut.

Trained by Bob Baffert for owners Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman, Uncle Chuck, who was purchased for $250,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, could make his next start in either the Aug. 1Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar or the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) a week later at Saratoga Race Course.

The Los Alamitos Derby win—which ave Uncle Chuck 20 points towards a berth in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)—was the fourth for Baffert. The race was formerly the Swaps Stakes contested at Hollywood Park from 1974-2013, and has been run at Los Alamitos for seven years. The Hall of Fame Trainer also won with Game Winner (2019), Once On Whiskey (2018), West Coast  (2017), and Gimme Da Lute (2015).

A 4-year-old daughter of Indian Evening owned by breeders KMN Racing and trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Sneaking Out scored a 7-1 upset over heavily-favored Bellafina in the July 4 Great Lady M. Stakes.

The win was the fifth in 11 starts for the California-bred and pushed her earnings to $431,441. It was the second win in the Great Lady M. for Hollendofer, who captured the inaugural running in 2014 with another Cal-bred, Doinghardtimeagain, for owner-breeder Tommy Town Thoroughbreds.

A 3-year-old son of Curlin  purchased for $3.65 million in March 2019, Cezanne is 2-for-2 for Baffert and owners Michael Tabor, Michael Smith, Susan Magnier, and co-breeder St. Elias Stable. A stakes race could be next for the Kentucky Derby prospect.

Baffert topped the trainer standings with four wins, the 11th time he has either led or shared the title at Los Alamitos since Thoroughbred racing returned in July 2014.  

Juan Hernandez, the leading jockey at the recently-concluded Golden Gate Fields meet who decided to move to Southern California at the end of last month, and Edwin Maldonado shared the riding title. Both won six races.

The wealth was spread during the two weeks of racing as 43 different trainers and 52 different owners or partnerships won the 57 races offered.

"I've always said some owners and trainers enjoy more success at Los Alamitos than either Santa Anita or Del Mar,'' said F. Jack Liebau, vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association. "I think this is important for the overall financial health of Southern California racing. Although some might disagree, I see it as a positive so many different connections were able to win races during these seven days.

"We also ran a pair of graded stakes during the two weeks and saw a couple of serious Kentucky Derby contenders in Uncle Chuck and Cezanne.''

According to Liebau, all sources handle for the meet, which was held without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was up approximately 25% over comparable dates in 2019.