Los Alamitos Winter Meet Gets Underway Dec. 6

The third and final Thoroughbred meet of the year at Los Alamitos Racecourse will begin Dec. 6.

The eight-day Winter season follows the 12-day Los Angeles County Fair at Los Alamitos in September and the 12-day Summer Thoroughbred Festival in June-July.

Racing will be conducted on a Thursday through Sunday basis up to Dec. 16. Post time will be 1 p.m on weekdays and 12:30 p.m. on weekends.

The two-week meet will be highlighted by a pair of grade 1 races for 2-year-olds—the $300,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity and the $300,000-guaranteed Starlet—Dec. 8.

The Futurity is a Road to the Kentucky Derby points race, with the winner earning 10 points towards a berth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) next May 4 at Churchill Downs.

Among the leading candidates for the Futurity is Improbable, an impressive winner of the Street Sense Stakes Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won all four renewals of the Futurity—Dortmund  (2014), Mor Spirit  (2015), Mastery  (2016), and McKinzie (2017)—since the race was moved to Los Alamitos from Hollywood Park.

Baffert has won the CashCall Futurity, which was run in Inglewood from 1981-2013, a record 10 times. 

The Starlet, for fillies, is one of the events on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks. The winner earns 10 points towards a spot in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) May 3.

Among the possible starters for the Starlet are the Baffer-trained Chasing Yesterday, a half sister to 2015 Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah , and Vibrance, third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs.

Both the CashCall Futurity and the Starlet will be 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-guaranteed Soviet Problem for fillies and the $100,000-guaranteed King Glorious.

The Soviet Problem will be run Dec. 15 while the King Glorious will be offered Dec. 16.

Track gates—including the Clubhouse and Vessels Club—will open at 9:30 a.m. PT. 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—as well as the popular Players' Pick 5—a $0.50 minimum wager with a reduced 14% takeout rate which is offered on the first five races.

In addition to the Starlet and Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity, the Dec. 8  program will feature a live money handicapping contest with as many as three seats available to the 2019 National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

There will also be a 2019 wall calendar giveaway Dec. 15—one per paid admission while supplies last.

Entries were taken Monday for the opening day program and a total of 69 horses were entered in eight races.