Los Alamitos Derby Fails to Draw Sufficient Entries
Image:
Description:
Photo: Benoit Photo
2020 Los Alamitos Derby winner Uncle Chuck returns from his score at Los Alamitos Race Course
Due to a lack of entries, the $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby (G3) will not be run July 3 as originally scheduled, according to a June 30 announcement from Los Alamitos Race Course.
The race for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles will be brought back as an extra for the July 4 card in hopes of drawing more entrants.
Only eight horses were nominated to the Los Alamitos Derby, with top California contenders such as Medina Spirit , Hot Rod Charlie , Rombauer , and The Chosen Vron notably bypassing the grade 3 event in search of bigger purses available in the months to come.
Entries for the July 4 card will be taken July 1.
Inaugurated in 1974 as the Swaps Stakes and run at Hollywood Park until its closure in 2013, then renamed the Los Alamitos Derby in 2014, the race has been a target for many of California's top sophomores throughout the decades. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has won the race a record 10 times, including last year with Uncle Chuck .
Although the inaugural running of the Swaps was ungraded, it was contested as a grade 1 from 1975-88. In 1989, it was downgraded to a grade 2 event. It regained grade 1 status in 1999, but became a grade 2 again in 2002. In 2017, the race was downgraded once more to a grade 3.