Los Alamitos Opens June 25 for Seven-Day Summer Meet

Following Santa Anita Park's meet that ended June 20, afternoon Thoroughbred racing in Southern California shifts to Los Alamitos Race Course for its short summer season that begins June 25.

The seven-day Los Alamitos meet continues through July 5 before a short pause on the circuit, and Del Mar stages its summer season beginning July 16. Los Alamitos, which also runs nighttime cards of Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds, will conduct its afternoon racing through June 27 this week and July 2-5 next week, adding the Monday after the Fourth of July. Post time for afternoon racing is 1 p.m PT.

Sixty horses entered eight races Friday with six in the featured seventh race, a six-furlong allowance optional claiming race with a $48,000 purse. Slam Dunk Racing and Roger Newman's Fratelli , a 5-year-old Munnings   gelding trained by Peter Miller, is favored at 8-5 on the morning line under Juan Hernandez.

A $32,000 claim in February, Fratelli twice won California-bred contests this spring at Santa Anita before setting the pace and tiring to fourth in a turf sprint there against open first-level allowance runners last out May 9.

Doug O'Neill trains the race's other favorites: Reddam Racing's I Will Not , and GNO Racing Club and Train Wreck Al Racing Stables' Notre Dame . Mario Gutierrez rides I Will Not and Umberto Rispoli is aboard Notre Dame.

Sixty-five horses are in nine races at Los Alamitos the afternoon of June 26. Just five are in the track's first stakes race, the Bertrando Stakes for California-breds. Fields were also short at Santa Anita this year, particularly in dirt stakes races.

Michael Jarvis, Flawless Racing, and Brian Flanagan's Brandothebartender  is the lone stakes winner in the one-mile Bertrando. The Craig Dollase-trained Tribal Rule  gelding twice captured stakes for California-breds this year as an 8-year-old, three years after his first stakes win at age 5.

The Los Alamitos summer meet includes a pair of graded stakes races, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby (G3) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles July 3 and the $200,000 Great Lady M. Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs. All races at Los Alamitos are on dirt.

The July 4 program will feature a live money handicapping contest with two seats available to the 2022 National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

Numerous exotic wagers are offered at Los Alamitos, with the Players Pick 5 returning the largest share to bettors. It is a 50-cent minimum wager with a reduced 14% takeout rate, offered on the first five races.

Grandstand admission is $3 and $2 for seniors 62 and older. Clubhouse admission is $5 and Vessels Club is $10. The track offers free general parking and preferred parking is $5.