Live daytime racing comes back to Los Alamitos Race Course from Sept. 5-21 with an 11-day fall meeting in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Fair.
The brief meet will be highlighted by the $200,000 Los Alamitos Mile Sept. 6 and a pair of $100,000 juvenile races to be held on Sept. 13-14. The Los Alamitos Mile for 3-year-olds and up on the dirt, could be used as a steppingstone for the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) to be held Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park.
TVG will be on-site to present live, HD television coverage of the meet.
One of the highlights during the opening weekend of the meet will be a public viewing of a workout by popular Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) winner California Chrome . Los Alamitos racing fans will be able to view California Chrome's workout in between the third and fourth races Sept. 6 as he continues preparations toward a return to racing in the Pennsylvania Derby (gr. II) Sept 20.
The three-week meeting will feature top Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing with a 2 p.m. PDT first post time each racing day. The action will typically consist of eight to nine Thoroughbred races to be followed by four to five Quarter Horse races, plus top-class Arabian action. The meet's opening weekend Sept. 5-7 will consist of racing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The other two weeks of the meet will feature racing on a Thursday through Sunday basis.
The eight-race stakes schedule will feature the 25th running of the $100,000 Barretts Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs Sept. 13, and the $100,000 Barretts Juvenile for 2-year-old colts and geldings at 6 1/2 furlongs the following day. Both races are holdovers from the previous schedule at Fairplex Park.
The Los Alamitos Mile on the meet's opening Saturday could feature a matchup between the Bob Baffert-trained Sky Kingdom and the Leonard Powell-trained Soi Phet. Sky Kingdom won the American Flag Stakes during the summer meet at Los Alamitos, while Soi Phet won the Bertrando Stakes on opening day of the summer meeting. Tonito M., third to Eclipse Award winner Shared Belief in the $500,000 Los Alamitos Derby (gr. II), is another possible participant in the Los Alamitos Mile.
Other stakes events will include the opening day $75,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs Sept. 5; the $75,000 Beverly Lewis Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs Sept. 6; and the $75,000 Orange County Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 furlongs Sept. 7.
Closing weekend will feature a pair of stakes races: the $75,000 Katella Stakes at 6 furlongs for 3-year-olds and up Sept. 20, and the $75,000 Las Madrinas Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles Sept. 21.
"We're very excited for the opportunity," said Brad McKinzie, general manager of the Los Alamitos Thoroughbred Racing Association. "Our goal is to offer quality racing featuring the top horsemen in California, and our exciting stakes schedule promises to showcase many of the outstanding racehorses stabled in Southern California.''
The fall meeting is the second of three Thoroughbred meets that Los Alamitos will play host to in 2014. Los Alamitos hosted the summer festival from July 3-13, while the winter session will be held Dec. 4-21.