Los Alamitos Up in Overall Wagering, New Pick 4
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Photo: BENOIT PHOTO
Once On Whiskey, who won the Los Alamitos Derby, was one of two graded winners for trainer Bob Baffert during Los Alamitos' summer meet
Los Alamitos Race Course saw increased daily overall handle during its 2018 summer meet, which concluded July 15, and also saw minor gains from the new format of its Pick 4 wagers.
The track reported Sunday night its 12-day meet had an increase of 4% in average daily handle, compared to the eight-day meet in July last year. Los Alamitos increased its Pick 4 minimum increments from 50 cents to $1 this meet and the two pools each day (combined) generated an average of $365,512.91 per day, compared to $355,959.50 in 2017, a 2.7% increase.
"Comparisons between the two meets are difficult, because they were of different lengths, although we did have six races cancelled (July 6, when jockeys deemed it unsafe to continue for heat-related reasons),'' said Jack Liebau, vice president of the Los Alamitos Racing Association. "In hindsight I wish we could have been able to fill some of the higher-quality races, but a lot of small owners and trainers got the opportunity to successfully run horses here that they might not have otherwise."
Bob Baffert finished atop the trainer standings with five wins. The Hall of Fame conditioner also won both graded stakes during the meet—the Great Lady M. (G2) with Marley's Freedom and the Los Alamitos Derby (G3) with Once On Whiskey. Steve Miyadi finished second with four wins.
BALAN: Once On Whiskey Springs Upset in Los Alamitos Derby
The jockey title was shared by apprentices Heriberto Figueroa and Asa Espinoza, who each piloted 12 winners during the meet. Figueroa pulled ahead in the eighth race Sunday with a win aboard New Karma, but Espinoza fired right back in the ninth and final race with a victory aboard Artistic Ab. Martin Pedroza finished third with seven victories and another apprentice, Edgar Payeras, finished in a fourth-place tie with Brayan Pena with six wins.
There has been a tradition of successful apprentices since Los Alamitos expanded its main track to accommodate daytime Thoroughbred racing in 2014. Drayden Van Dyke won a pair of riding titles as an apprentice at Los Alamitos in 2014, and Evin Roman won titles at all three Los Alamitos meets in 2017, the year he earned the Eclipse Award as the top apprentice.
The race for top owner ended in an eight-way tie for first. Hronis Racing, Reddam Racing, Gary Barber, Tommy Town Thoroughbreds, C J Racing, trainer Justin Clark, Nick Alexander, and trainer David Jacobson all had two wins as owners.