The first of three thoroughbred day competitions this year at Los Alamitos will begin on Saturday, June 22.
The Los Angeles County Fair’s eight-day season continues through Sunday, July 7. The races will take place Saturday-Sunday (June 22-23 and June 29-30) the first two weeks and Saturday-Thursday (July 4-7) the last week, post time is 1 p.m.
The highlight of the competition will be the $200,000 guaranteed Great Lady M. Stakes over 1,800 meters. The Grade II for fillies and mares (3 years and over) will take place on Saturday July 6.
The other two stakes to manage are the $100,000 guaranteed Bertrando for ages 3 and up bred or sired in California and the $125,000 guaranteed Los Alamitos Derby. The one-mile Bertrando is the main event on opening day while the Los Alamitos Derby, contested over 1 1/8 miles, will take place on Saturday, June 29.
The betting menu includes the $2 Pick Six – with the traditional 70-30 split – a pair of $1 Pick 4s – races 2 to 5 and the final four races – as well as the popular Players’ Pick 5 – a minimum bet of 50 cents. with a reduced withdrawal rate of 14% which is offered on the first five races.
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The Los Alamitos Racing Association will also award $10,000 to the Pick Six on Saturday, June 29 and Saturday, July 6, provided there are no postponements.
There will also be a handicap competition on Saturday July 6. LARA will offer a cash prize and a pair of berths to the 2025 National Thoroughbred Handicap Racing Championship in Las Vegas.
The cost of entry is $500. Of this amount, $100 will be placed into the competition prize pool, with the remaining $400 going towards a real money betting card.
Tournament races will include the entire Los Alamitos map. Allowed bets are win, place, show, exactas, trifectas and daily doubles. Each entry must bet at least $50 on a minimum of four races, but there is no betting limit.
Owner-breeder Nick Alexander and trainer Steve Miyadi, who together won the Bertrando with Desmond Doss in 2021 and 2022, will have two representatives in the 11th renewal of the race on Saturday.
Lovesick Blues and Tom Horn, both winners on the local surface, are among the six entered on Tuesday.
A 6-year-old gelding son of Grazen and the Ministers Wild Cat mare Queenofthecastle, Lovesick Blues won seven of 24 and cashed $411,500. He has never been worse than third in five starts at Los Alamitos, including an easy victory in an optional claimer on September 25, 2022 and a runner-up effort behind Kings River Knight in this race a year ago.
Winning June 9 at Santa Anita, Tom Horn, a 4-year-old Grazen colt out of the Tribal Rule mare Miranda Rose, is 4 of 9 with earnings of $146,460. He beat his maiden by four lengths against $50,000 state-breds during the 2023 LACF season. The Bertrando will mark his first start beyond 1,400 meters.
Owned by breeder J. Paul Reddam’s Reddam Racing LLC and trained by Antonio Garcia, Dont Fight the Fed will make his debut at Los Alamitos. A Nyquist colt out of the Scat mare Daddy Taffeta, the 4-year-old returns to the dirt after finishing second, beaten by a neck by Red Cross Knight at the Bertrando distance on turf on May 19. Don’t Fight the Fed won twice—both at eight furlongs—in seven appearances and banked $124,980.
A dominant winner over a mile June 2 at Arcadia, Dick Best will make his local debut for owner Melvin Simonovich and trainer Librado Barocio. A gelding son of Stanford and the Grazen mare Sadie Clare, the 5-year-old won seven of 25 while earning $144,130. Three of his wins have come in six appearances on the main track and he has been worse than third only once on gravel.
Winning by seven lengths the last time he competed here, Cowboy Mike will try for his fifth career victory ahead of owner-breeder Connie Pageler and Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. Earning $204,494 from 11 races, the 4-year-old Smiling Tiger gelding out of the mare Maria’s Mon Lutess won two of three in 2024 with a neck defeat as the 1-2 favorite in an optional claiming on May 4. to Saint Anita.
None Above the Law will attempt to end a long losing streak as he makes his fourth start for owner Hector Castrellon and trainer Jorge Periban since being paid $50,000 to Peter Miller on February 24. The 6-year-old gray son of Karakontie and Northern Afleet mare Legally Blanca has lost 19 in a row since winning the Grade II Del Mar Derby on turf on September 4, 2021. The gelding is 6 for 33 lifetime with wins of $573,802. One of his victories came in his career debut at Los Alamitos. He rallied to graduate a length against $50,000 state breeds on July 2, 2020 for Miller and owner-breeders J. Kirk and Judy Robison.
The Bertrando is the last of nine races on Saturday. Approximate posting time is 4:55 p.m.
From inside to outside, the field for the Bertrando Stakes: Don’t Fight the Fed, Mario Gutierrez rides, 124 pounds; Dick Best, Ricardo Gonzalez, 124 years old; Cowboy Mike, Edwin Maldonado, 124; Person above the law, Antonio Fresu, 124 years old; Tom Horn, Tyler Baze, 124 and Lovesick Blues, Kyle Frey, 124.
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