New Era Begins in Southern California

By Steve Sherack
   With the closing of historic Hollywood Park, racing in Southern California kicks off a new era with the inaugural Los Alamitos Summer Thoroughbred Festival July 3-13. 
    The eight-day meeting–which begins with Thursday’s eight-race card headed by the $100,000 Bertrando S.–is the first for Thoroughbreds at the venue since the final Orange County Fair season in 1991. Racing will be conducted on a Thursday-Sunday basis. There is no turf course at Los Alamitos, which is home to year-round world-class Quarter Horse racing. 
    This weekend’s $500,000 GII Los Alamitos Derby– formerly run as the Swaps S. at Hollywood Park–has attracted unbeaten champion Shared Belief (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GII Robert B. Lewis S. winner Candy Boy (Candy Ride {Arg}). The July 12 GII Great Lady M. S., a mainstay for older filly and mare sprinters in Inglewood while contested as the A Gleam H., shares the spotlight on the meeting’s seven-race stakes schedule worth $1.15 million. In partnership with the California-based insurance brokerage firm Bolton & Company, Los Alamitos will offer a $1-million bonus to any horse that sweeps the Los Alamitos Derby, GI TVG Pacific Classic and GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. 
    Led by its popular owner Dr. Ed Allred, construction was completed in January to lengthen the Los Alamitos main track to a mile. The stretch now measures 1,380 feet, the longest of any racetrack in the United States. 
    Other upgrades to the facility include the addition of high-definition televisions and an expansion of the winner’s circle and view terraces. Already boasting a stable area housing 1,500 horses, an additional 200 stalls for Thoroughbreds are currently in the works. 
    “It’s pretty exciting for us,” Los Alamitos Marketing and Publicity Director Orlando Gutierrez commented. “The feedback has been great. There’s been a lot of great buzz and we’re getting a ton of phonecalls. I know our restaurant is filling up very quickly. It’s going to be a great crowd in The Vessels Club.” 
    Gutierrez continued, “From the second we opened the track [for training], we received great reviews from the horsemen. Art Sherman was one of the first to say that it was a great place to train. We also have Bob Baffert stabled here, Mike Harrington, Mike Puype and Marty Jones. The overall feedback has been great.” 
    California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) called Los Alamitos home before taking the racing world by storm with emphatic victories in the first two legs of the Triple Crown this spring. The first 10,000 fans in attendance will receive a limited edition California Chrome T-shirt with paid admission on opening day. 
    “California Chrome loves Los Alamitos Race Course,” trainer Art Sherman said. “The track surface at Los Alamitos is as good a racetrack as you will find anywhere in the country.” 
    Baffert has been very supportive of Los Alamitos making the transition to the Thoroughbred scene as well. Like fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, the three-time GI Kentucky Derby winning conditioner began his career as a Quarter Horse trainer. 
    “I love the facilities [at Los Alamitos Race Course] and management works really close with horsemen,” Baffert offered. “It’s a homecoming for me. Los Al is a mini Del Mar located in a very nice area–10 minutes away from Disneyland.” 
    Leading trainer Doug O’Neill simply added, “This is the start of something special!” 
    The response from horsemen hasn’t all been positive, though. 
    “I have low expectations for the upcoming Los Al meet for many reasons,” trainer Peter Miller commented. “Firstly, the timing right in front of Del Mar is very difficult. Secondly, we have a horse shortage in California combined with nonsensical claiming rules. Too many race days is a recipe for disaster and we are seeing the results of this at the entry booth.” 
    In addition to the July summer meeting, Los Alamitos will also host a three-week winter Thoroughbred meeting beginning Thursday, Dec. 4. The winter meet will feature the GI Los Alamitos Futurity and the GI Starlet S. For more information, visit www.losalamitos.com.

What They’re Saying…about Los Alamitos

   “This is an exciting time in our industry out West. [Los Alamitos Chief and Executive Officer] Doc Allred has assembled a winning team, with quality and competitive racing (at all levels) being paramount. The next two weeks of Thoroughbred racing at Los Alamitos is just the tip of the iceberg!” -Bloodstock agent & TVG analyst Nick Hines

   “While the party line is one of optimism in terms of the upcoming Los Alamitos meeting, I, for one, am a firm believer that the industry in general, and specifically, Southern California, must adopt a “less is more” approach to racing. 
This is nothing against Los Alamitos. I’ve heard rave reviews about their racing surface, which was evidenced by the fact that California Chrome was prepared there for his bid at the Triple Crown and I applaud Los Al management for making capital improvements to the racetrack and the plant overall. 
    That said, I view this two- week window of time between the end of the Santa Anita spring/summer meeting and the start of the Del Mar meeting as an ideal opportunity for a mid-year hiatus from racing in Southern California so that horses, trainers, jockeys and gamblers can recharge their batteries and head into Del Mar and the remainder of the season with guns blazing. 
    Furthermore, I’m disappointed that the powers that be allowed for a reduction in purse structure compared to the Hollywood Park meeting last year. To me, this is sending the wrong signal to track operators. Rather than challenging Los Alamitos to provide product worthy of running a high-class Thoroughbred meeting, the reduced purse structures has provided for a soft landing with little to no incentive for Los Al execs to roll up their sleeves, recruit horses to run at the meeting and put on top-notch programs. 
    There is already a quasi-stigma attached to the thought of running a Thoroughbred meeting at a quarter-horse venue, so lowering the purses, comparatively speaking, only enables that mentality. The lowered purses, combined with what I perceive to be unnecessary race dates, perpetuate a dilution of product in Southern California. 
    I am a Cal-Bred myself and love to race in California and I will continue to race in California, but in my opinion, the upcoming Los Al meeting is a step in the wrong direction for the long-term health of the industry.” -Aron Wellman, President Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners

   “I was a consultant for the re-design of the racetrack at Los Alamitos and I’m very excited about the meeting. Unfortunately, I won’t be riding there–I’ll be back east until Del Mar starts up–but I’ll be attending opening day. It’s probably the most unique racecourse here in the United States outside of the Hillside Turf Course at Santa Anita. It’s very similar to the old Nad Al Sheba racetrack in Dubai, which I loved. Having ridden in Europe, there are no rules that say a racetrack has to be round. I think these jockeys are going to have fun riding at Los Alamitos and I think it’s going to be great for the fans too, who are going to have a great view of the racetrack. They’re going to see something that they’ve never seen here before in the United States.” -Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens

   “I am very excited about the Los Al meeting and what they have done in terms of stepping up for our industry as a partner for both racing and stabling. I think that the horsemen in California are extremely fortunate that Doc Allred and Brad McKinzie decided to become part of our circuit and have filled some of the voids left by the closures of Hollywood Park and Fairplex. Los Al has a good barn area, a terrific racing surface and an updated and well-appointed smaller facility that will work quite nicely for the three boutique meets that they will host. The only drawback is the lack of a turf course, but maybe one day that will be in the cards. 
    As far as this meet goes, I’m expecting a lot of excitement from the racing fans and many more casual folks in Orange County, who will finally have big-time Thoroughbred racing in their neighborhood for the first time. Our star trainers and jockeys and several big name horses will run there, which should drum up a ton of interest among the locals. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing how the unique configuration of the very long stretch and different-sized turns works out. I think races like the Bertrando, Los Alamitos Derby and Great Lady M. will help keep the momentum that we’ve gained at Santa Anita going and help bridge the two-week gap until Del Mar. 
    We are planning on running several of our horses at Los Al, even though we are primarily a turf barn, and look forward to spending a lot of time in the Vessels Club over the course of the next two weeks!”-Harris D. Auerbach, Managing Partner- M.Auerbach LLC & The Unusual Heat Syndicate