Los Alamitos

Four stakes written for juveniles--two each for males and females--will be featured during the upcoming six-day winter meeting at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California. Live racing will take place Friday through Sunday on consecutive weekends between Dec. 5 and 7 and Dec. 12 and 14. The first of the added-money events is the $200,000 GII Starlet Stakes for 2-year-old fillies and a mile and a sixteenth to be run Saturday, Dec. 6. Its male counterpart, the $200,000 GII Los Alamitos Futurity will be contested on Saturday, Dec. 13...

1st-Los Alamitos, $46,000, Msw, 9-20, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:15.88, ft, 3 1/2 lengths. MEANING (f, 2, Gun Runner--Figure of Speech {GISP}, by Into Mischief) worked a sharp half-mile out of the gate in :47 1/5 (2/60) at Santa Anita Sept. 13 and was hammered into 1-5 favoritism for this debut run. Fourth in the very early stages, she rushed up to grab the lead following an opening quarter in :22.34. She was put to the test by GIII Sorrento S. third-place finisher Thank You India (Practical Joke) on the...

The nine-day Los Angeles County Fair Meet concluded Sunday with increased field sizes for a second consecutive year and with Kazushi Kimura claiming his first local riding title, the track announced. Several metrics improved for the 2025 season in addition to the field size--a bump up to 7.6 starters per race from slightly less than seven over the corresponding season a year ago. The total Players' Pick 5 pool of $974,636 eclipsed the previous high of $410,783 from 2016 when two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome had been the...

In a showdown between the top female sprinters in California, last year's GII Great Lady M Stakes winner Sweet Azteca (Sharp Azteca) returned to successfully defend her title Saturday defeating MGISW Kopion (Omaha Beach). One a four-race win streak last season for trainer Michael McCarthy which included a win in the GI Beholder Mile early in the year, the now 5-year-old mare changed barns to Richard Baltas after a poor showing as the heavy favorite in the GIII Chillingworth Stakes last October. On the sidelines for nine months, the 7-2...

1st-LRC, $45K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, 4:00 p.m. ET. Debuting for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, ST PETERSBURG (Constitution) was a $700,000 purchase during the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. Owned by SF, Starlight, Madaket, Stonestreet, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Golconda Stable, Waves Edge Capital and Catherine Donovan, the colt is one of five foals out GIII Schuylerville Stakes heroine Catherinethegreat (Uncaptured), who was acquired by WinStar for $175,000 at the 2019 Keeneland November Sale. The first-time starter hails from an extended female family which includes SW Katinka (Kantharos). TJCIS...

The nine-day Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Los Alamitos kicks off Friday, June 20 and will run through Sunday, July 6 with three stakes worth a combined $400,000 serving as the highlights, the track announced via press release Monday afternoon. Racing is set to be conducted Friday-Sunday (June 20-22; June 27-29; and July 4-6) all three weeks with post time scheduled for 1:00 p.m. The richest of the stakes races, the $200,000 GII Great Lady M. Stakes, will run Saturday, July 5 as the last of the black-type on...

California-breds have long been a staple of the state's racing product. Since 2014, CA-breds have represented between 45% and 50% of all starters at Thoroughbred race meets. Since the consolidation of racing in the south of the state, that trend has continued. From the start of the Santa Anita winter meeting through mid-March, Cal-breds made up about 47% of all individual starters, which includes both open races and those restricted to northern trainers. But with last year's foal crop (now yearlings) currently sitting at just below 1000 amid a breeding...

Three stakes races worth a combined $400,000 will be staged during the Los Angeles County Fair meeting at Los Alamitos Racecourse. Nine days of live racing are scheduled from Friday, June 20 through Sunday, July 6 on a Friday-Sunday schedule. The most valuable of the three stakes is the GII Great Lady M. Stakes, which carries purse money of $200,000. The 6 1/2-furlong test for fillies and mares is set to be run Saturday, July 5. The $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby is scheduled for Saturday, June 28. Trainer Bob Baffert...

The Mark Glatt runner Vanzzy (Verrazano) tested positive for Metformin and Gabapentin after finishing second in a Dec. 6, 2024 $16,000 claiming race at Los Alamitos, according to a ruling posted on the Horse Racing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU) website. This is the first Metformin case HIWU has had since July 2024. Glatt has denied any wrongdoing, but his lawyer, Drew Mollica, said that an internal investigation had identified a barn employee who is taking both medications. "We have not yet been served the charges, but this is another...

Last year, the Santa Ynez Stakes was issued a downgrade from its grade III status and tabbed as a listed race for 3-year-old fillies in 2025. However, Kentucky Oaks points remain on the table--10 will be deposited in the winner's account--when the bell rings at Santa Anita on Sunday. The Santa Ynez is now part of 1/ST Racing's 3-Year-Old Filly Series, which is sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. Made the morning-line favorite at 5-2 is Hronis Racing's A.Z. Wildcat (Munnings). The chestnut stalked the pace nicely and ended up breaking her maiden...

Every passing year seems to present California with a fresh set of challenges. The latest new leaf brings with it an entirely new racing framework with operations consolidated in the South. This comes on the back of the California Association of Racing Fairs' (CARF) decision last month not to pursue a race meet at Pleasanton during the start of 2025. On New Year's morning, the TDN sat down with Bill Nader, executive director of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC). In part one of this interview, Nader discusses, among other...

The old patriarch can't have failed to notice all the activity around the Gainesway stallion barn, with four new lads settling in and another relatively recent arrival meanwhile leading a desperate race for the freshman laurels. At nearly 23, in contrast, Tapit's own book is being prudently managed and he was confined to 79 mares last spring. Yet this remains not only the neighborhood boss, but also the most venerable stallion in the land. True, the gray's status as America's most productive stallion is inexorably menaced by Into Mischief, who's...