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The six-day Winter thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos will begin Friday, Dec. 9.
Racing will be conducted Friday-Sunday both weeks (Dec. 9-11 and 16-18). Post time will be 12:30 p.m.
The Winter meet will be highlighted by a pair of graded events for 2-year-olds – the Grade I, $300,000-guaranteed Starlet for fillies Saturday, Dec. 10 and the Grade II, $200,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos Futurity Saturday, Dec. 17.
The Starlet is one of the races on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks’’ with the winner receiving 10 points towards a berth in the Kentucky Oaks May 5, 2023 at Churchill Downs.
The leading candidate for the Starlet is Faiza, an impressive debut winner last month for owner Michael Lund Petersen and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. The daughter of Girvin will be supplemented to the Starlet for $10,000.
The Futurity is one of the events on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby.’’ The winner earns 10 points towards a spot in the Kentucky Derby May 6, 2023.
Among the nominees to the Futurity are the Baffert-trained trio of Arabian Lion, Fort Bragg and Los Alamitos graduate Gandolfini.
Baffert has won seven of the eight renewals of the Futurity – Dortmund (2014), Mor Spirit (2015), Mastery (2016), McKinzie (2017), Improbable (2018), Thousand Words (2019) and Spielberg (2020) – since the race was moved to Los Alamitos from Hollywood Park.
Both the 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 Sunday, Dec. 11 while the King Glorious will be offered Sunday, Dec. 18.
Track gates – including Vessels Club and Burgart’s – will open at 9:30 a.m. General parking is free with grandstand admission $3 – $2 for seniors 62 and older.
The wagering menu includes the $2 Pick Six, a pair of $1 Pick 4’s – races 2-5 and the final four – – as well as the Players’ Pick 5 – a 50-cent minimum wager with a takeout rate of 14% – on the first five races.
The Pick Six will have the standard 70-30 split with 70% of the pool going to those tickets with six winners and the remaining 30% going to tickets with five of six winners.
There will also be a handicapping contest Saturday, Dec. 17 and the Los Alamitos Racing Association will offer a cash prize and a pair of berths to the 2023 National Thoroughbred Racing Association Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.
Cost to enter is $500. Of that amount, $100 will be placed in the contest prize pool with the remaining $400 going towards a live money wagering card.
Tournament races will include the entire card at Los Alamitos. Permitted wagers include win, place, show, exactas, trifectas and daily doubles. Each entry must wager at least $50 on a minimum of five races that day, but there is no wagering limit.
The player with the highest bankroll at the end of the day will be declared the winner and the second highest bankroll will be the runner-up.
The winner will receive 50% of the prize pool. The remaining payoffs: 20% (2nd place), 15% (3rd place, 7.5% (4th place) and 7.5% (Most Money Wagered).
