Vessels Maturity Trials

Los Alamitos Race Course

Tonight's card at Los Alamitos Race Course features two trials, races 8 & 9, where eighteen runners will sprint 400-yards in search of being one of the ten fastest qualifiers that will return in the GI $167,900 Vessels Maturity final on July 7.

In addition to Grade I honors, the winner of the Vessels Maturity will also earn a berth to the presigious GI $750,000 Champion of Champions. The Champion Of Champions is one of the premier races for older quarter horses and the winner is usually in the mix for AQHA championship honors. This year's edition of the Champion of Champions will be run on December 14.

Tonight's Best Bets:

Race 2 - #3 I Me Mine (3-1 odds). This filly was off slow in her debut and finished fifth in a field of six. Today she returns with that outing under he belt and picks up the services of Ramon Sanchez. She had posted a 12.3 bullet work before her troubled debut and I have a feeling she will run a much improved effort today.

Race 8 - #3 Fols Jesse (7-2 odds). We last seen Fols Jesse losing the Katella Handicap by a head back in March and today he shows up to this trial with a nice 18.1 workout. His main weapon is his gate speed and I like that he is drawn to the outside of his two main rivals. He is a consistent horse and I think this will be his opportunity to put up a big performance.

Selections:

Race 1:  7-1-6
Race 2:  3-2-5
Race 3:  4-5-6
Race 4:  7-6-3
Race 5:  5-3-2
Race 6:  1-5-6
Race 7:  5-3-2
Race 8:  3-1-2
Race 9:  7-1-6

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Four:  1,7 / 3 / 4,5,6 / 2,3,5,6,7 = $30

Race 6 - $1 Pick Four:  1,2,5,6 / 2,3,4,5 / 3 / 1,6,7 = $48

Let's get it!

Lanty's Jet Handicap & $14,789 Pick Six Carryover

Daylight hours at Los Alamitos

A solid weekend for racing at Los Alamitos kicks off today with a nice $14,789 pick six carryover and the running of the Lanty's Jet Handicap. The pick six looks like a very competitive sequence and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

A solid field of eight runners will sprint 350-yards in the Lanty's Jet Handicap which goes as race 8 in the card. #1 Significant Heart made a good impression in her first start as a three-year-old for the Paul Jones barn and I like her right back tonight.

Stay tuned all weekend as The Los Alamitos Claiming Futurity will take place on Saturday night and The Vessels Maturity Trials will be contested on Sunday evening.

Selections:

Race 1:  4-9-5
Race 2:  1-4-3
Race 3:  2-8-7
Race 4:  9-4-3
Race 5:  8-6-4
Race 6:  3-7-5
Race 7:  7-6-3
Race 8:  1-6-5
Race 9:  7-4-1

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Four:  4,9 / 1,3,4 / 2,8 / 4,9 = $24

Race 4 - $2 Pick Six  :  4,9 / 8 / 3,7 / 7 / 1,5,6,8 / 7 = $32

Race 6 - $1 Pick Four:  3,7 / 7 / 1,5,6,8 / 7 = $8

Good Luck!

Trials to The GI $1,111,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity

Curtis Treece (Equibase Chart Caller), Ed Burgart (Track Announcer),  and Me.

What: 14 Trials to the GI $1,111,000 Ed Burke Million Futurity.

Where: Los Alamitos Race Course

Who: 112 talented 2-year-olds. The ten fastest qualifiers return to run in the final on June 23.

What to look for: The majority of these runners have been competing at 300-yards, make sure to look at the running lines and comments to find those that have made a late run. Those should benefit from today's 350-yard distance. Also look at the workouts and odds that some of these runners went off as in their previous starts, that might be a good indicator if they were well meant and you might find a better price today.

Usual suspects: Look for these trainers to have plenty of live runners with their top riders: Jones (Sanchez/DeAlba), Flores (Mendez), Willoughby(Aceves), Morales (S Mendez), Glenn (Gomez), De La Torre (Nicasio/Arriaga), Gomez (Aceves/Arriaga). These are some of the combinations that have a good amount of runners today and tend to be in the money at a high percentage. Look for these when building trifectas & superfectas.

Selections:

Race   1:  6-5-3
Race   2:  3-4-7
Race   3:  6-7-4
Race   4:  1-3-4
Race   5:  2-6-5
Race   6:  6-8-1
Race   7:  4-7-6
Race   8:  3-2-6
Race   9:  3-5-7
Race 10:  8-4-6
Race 11:  7-8-6
Race 12:  7-2-4
Race 13:  8-1-6
Race 14:  7-8-1

Plays:

Race   1 - $1 Pick Four:   6 / 3,4,7,8 / 2,4,6,7,9 / 1 = $20

Race   6 - $1 Pick Four:  1,2,6,8 / 4,7 / 3 / 3,4,5,7,8 = $40

Race 11 - $1 Pick Four:  2,6,7,8 / 7 / 1,8 / 1,6,7,8 = $32

Should be a great night of racing!

2-Year-Olds lead the Card

Riders up paddock at Los Alamitos

The week of racing at Los Alamitos ends today with three straight maiden races for 2-year-olds leading the card. There are some runners that have racing experience and some that are making their debuts, it should make for some interesting wagering opportunities. Short on time so let's get to the selections.

Selections:

Race 1:  5-4-2

Race 2:  6-8-3

Race 3:  3-5-7

Race 4:  3-8-5

Race 5:  3-4-6

Race 6:  1-2-4

Race 7:  6-1-5

Race 8:  1-6-4

Race 9:  3-4-2

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Four:  4,5 / 6,8 / 3,4,5,6,7 / 3 = $20

Race 6 - $1 Pick Four:  1 / 6 / All / 2,3,4,6 = $24

Let's close the week on a winning note!

Engraver Is My Key

Quiet morning at LosAl after morning workouts

The week of racing at Los Alamitos Race Course begins with a nine-race card and one of my key singles tonight is 5-1 on the morning line as the fifth betting choice. The other best bet is a deserving morning line favorite after a five length win at same level. Let's take a look.

Best bets:

Race 4 - #9 Engraver - this son of Wave Carver has the pedigree to get better with age. He makes his 3-year-old debut after showing some talent as a 2-year-old. He was last seen in the Los Alamitos $2Million Futurity Trials when acting up at the gate and completely using his energy before the race. His record of 6-1-2-1 is a solid one. He showed a good late kick in his starts at 300 yards and got his only victory at the distance of 350 yards. Today's distance of 330 yards fits him well, shows a good workout of 18.0 and I like the outside post. He has plenty of positives going for him.  He is 5-1 on the morning line, hope we get a great price.

Race 7 - #6 Wine N Maxine - this filly jumped up with a big effort last out in a big win in a good final time. Jerry Wallace brings her back at the same level and looks like the one to beat. The outside post gives Vinnie Bednar the luxury of looking over to see what the rest of the competition decides to do after the break. She is the deserving 8-5 morning line favorite.

Selections:

Race 1:  1-6-5
Race 2:  6-3-4
Race 3:  6-2-7
Race 4:  9-5-7
Race 5:  5-4-1
Race 6:  2-5-3
Race 7:  6-4-1
Race 8:  1-6-2
Race 9:  3-5-7

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Four: 1,6 / 3,4,6 / 1,2,6,7 / 9 = $24

Race 6 - $1 Pick Four: 2,3,5 / 6 / 1,2,4,6 / 3,5 = $24

Let's get it!

Los Alamitos Claiming Futurity Stakes Trials

        Before we dive into the selections for tonight's card at Los Alamitos, I want to give thanks to Rachel McLaughlin (@IndyDownsRachel) and the entire team at Indiana Downs for having me as a guest handicapper last night.

It was my first time visiting Indiana Downs and I have to say I can't wait until I have another opportunity to go back. They have great facilities, great atmosphere, good crowd of racing fans, and most of all a fan friendly race track. Plus, the bets treated me good throughout the day. Good Times!








The weekend of racing continues tonight at Los Alamitos Race Course with the running of the Claiming Futurity Stakes Trials. Three trials, races 7-9, where 21 two-year-olds will run for a $12,500 claiming tag and the 10 fastest will return to run in the $61,600 final.

Selections:

Race 1:  5-2-3
Race 2:  5-2-4
Race 3:  6-1-4
Race 4:  6-7-5
Race 5:  2-4-5
Race 6:  4-3-6
Race 7:  1-2-5
Race 8:  1-2-4
Race 9:  1-2-6

My plays:

Race 1 - $10 Pick Four: 5 / 5 / 1,6 / 6 = $20

Race 6 - $1  Pick Four:  3,4,6 / 1,2 / 1 / 1,2,6 = $18

Let's get 'em!

Week Begins With News of More Dates

The racing week at Los Alamitos Race Course begins with news that Los Al expects to pick up two weeks of racing in 2014 from the main Thoroughbred circuit calendar that is left over after the closure of BetFair Hollywood Park. The tentative dates are from December 11-21.

Los Alamitos is primarily a Quarter Horse track but it also runs Thoroughbred races at the distance of 4 and 1/2 furlongs year round. Los Al is a night time track so it will be interesting to see if it runs the newly acquired dates during the night (I hope so). The big question with the December 11-21 dates is that Los Alamitos traditionally runs it's two biggest races during that time frame, The Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity and the prestigious Champion of Champions. Will they change the dates of those two races and run all Thoroughbred races at night? Or will they run the Thoroughbred meet during the day and keep the Quarter Horse meet at night?

Either way, I like the location, the Orange County market, the ownership, and the overall potential that Los Alamitos Race Course has going for them. Read more about the change in calendar for Southern California in this DRF article: http://www.drf.com/news/california-dates-assigned-stabling-options-next-agenda

Selections:

Race 1:  1-6-8
Race 2:  8-5-4
Race 3:  5-2-1
Race 4:  3-7-2
Race 5:  6-1-3
Race 6:  1-2-4
Race 7:  4-3-1
Race 8:  1-2-3
Race 9:  3-1-6

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Four:  1,6 / 2,4,5,8 / 5 / 2,3,7 = $24

Race 6 - $1 Pick Four:  1,2,4,6 / 1,3,4 / 1 / 1,3 = $24

Good luck!

245 Horses in 25 Trials to the GI $750,000 Ruidoso Futurity

The outcome of the Preakness Stakes last weekend left us once again without a Thoroughbred Triple Crown winner this year but hopefully we get a rematch of the Derby and Preakness winners in the Belmont. Keep up with all things horse racing and the ABRV
Tour at FollowHorseRacing.com

One Dashing Eagle wins last year's All American Futurity

Speaking about the Triple Crown, the road to the Quarter Horse Triple Crown begins today. The Quarter Horse Triple Crown is different than the Thoroughbred Triple Crown but it is still very difficult to achieve. It definitely takes a special horse and plenty of racing luck. The three legs of the Quarter Horse Triple crown are the $750,000 Ruidoso Futurity, the $1,000,000 Rainbow Futurity, and the $2.6 Million All American Futurity. All at Ruidoso Downs.

All three races are for 2-year-olds (3-year-olds for Thoroughbreds) and if a horse wins all three races, the horse also gets a $4 Million dollar bonus. There are no points system (like Thoroughbred Racing) in Quarter Horse racing so the ten fastest qualifiers from each set of trials go on the final. Since all the races have trials, that means that the horse has to qualify in three trials and then win the three finals. In other words, a horse has to perform at a top level in a total of six races (three for Thoroughbreds).

It is opening day at Ruidoso Downs where a total of 245 two-year-olds will race in 25 trials to the Ruidoso Futurity, the first leg of Quarter Horse racing triple crown. The 10 fastest qualifiers out of these 25 trials will return to run in the GI $750,000 final.

First post for the marathon card is at 10:00am and the last race of the evening is set to go off at 7:12pm Mountain Time.

Selections:

Race   1:  5-1-7            Pick-3
Race   2:  10-7-5
Race   3:  8-2-9
Race   4:  10-5-1
Race   5:  5-1-4            Pick-3
Race   6:  10-9-3
Race   7:  8-5-4
Race   8:  5-10-6
Race   9:  1-2-8            Pick-3
Race 10:  8-10-4
Race 11:  3-10-9
Race 12:  5-10-7
Race 13:  5-7-4            Pick-3
Race 14:  7-4-8
Race 15:  8-7-10
Race 16:  8-9-7
Race 17:  10-3-1          Pick-4
Race 18:  10-9-8
Race 19:  9-3-7
Race 20:  3-2-8
Race 21:  7-5-8
Race 22:  8-5-7
Race 23:  10-7-5          Pick-3
Race 24:  5-1-6
Race 25:  8-3-10

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Three: 5 / 5,7,10 / 2,8 = $6

Race 5 - $1 Pick Three: 5 / 3,9,10 / 4,5,8 = $9

Race 9 - $1 Pick Three: 1,2,8 / 8,10 / 3 = $6

Race 13 - $1 Pick Three: 4,5,7 / 4,7,8 / 8 = $9

Race 17 - $1 Pick Four: 10 / 8,9,10 / 3,7,9 / 3 = $9

Race 23 - $1 Pick Three: 7,10 / 5 / 3,8,10 = $6

Stay tuned and come back later tonight for my plays and selections for Los Alamitos.

It's going to be a great weekend of racing coast to coast. Ruidoso, Los Al, Hollywood Park, Belmont, Arlington, Canterbury, Indiana and many more solid cards.

2-Year-Olds With Potential Are My Best Bets

The Saddling Paddock at Los Alamitos. 

A nine-race card begins the week at Los Alamitos Race Course which features two races for 2-year-olds and a competitive Allowance field in Race 8. Last Sunday evening I had two best bets and they both delivered with good wins. I scored on the late pick-4 on a $30 play for a payout of $455, let's see if we can hit another one tonight.

Tonight I once again have two Best Bets and they both first-time-starters, and they both land on the 2-year-old races, let's see how they run:

Race 2:  #6 Spirit Leader - This Corona Cartel colt from the Paul Jones barn has turned in two solid workouts. In his April 25th drill, he looked strong in a nice 12.10 work. He looks to have landed in between two slower foes and if he gets a good break under Ramon Sanchez, the race might be over from the start.

Race 6: #8 Hannahs Double Love - This filly by Tac It Like A Man has done everything right in her two workouts and looks to be much better than any of her opponents here. Both of her workouts were the fastest on each of those days and Juan Aleman is no stranger to having babies ready to fire in their debut. She will be a big favorite to begin the late pick-4 but there might be some value in the remaining three legs.

My Selections:

Race 1:  3-4-5
Race 2:  6-2-1
Race 3:  4-6-8
Race 4:  3-5-8
Race 5:  5-6-7
Race 6:  8-1-3
Race 7:  1-7-5
Race 8:  4-5-3
Race 9:  6-7-3

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Four:  3.4.5 / 6 / 4,6,8 / 3,5,8 = $27

Race 6 - $1 Pick Four:  8 / 1,7 / 3,4,5,6 / 3,6,7 = $24

There is also a small pick six carryover that begins in Race 4, I will build my ticket and tweet it out. Stay tuned for that.

Let's get it!

Kindergarten Futurity Trials

As you already know, I am on the America's Best Racing Tour and we invaded Louisville for Kentucky Derby week and what a week it was. Keep up with all things horse racing at FollowHorseRacing.com

The view from above the grandstand at Los Alamitos Race Course

On to Los Alamitos Race Course.

The first futurity of the year is here. Trials to the Kindergarten Futurity will go off as races 2-9 tonight.
Two-year-olds have been running the past few weeks but today we get to see which ones will stand out from this early crop. The familiar barns of Paul Jones, Jose Flores, Scott Willoughby, Jose De La Torre,  Jaime Gomez and Jim Hanson are well represented tonight. The pick-4 pools have been strong and the payouts have been awesome, let's see if we can scoop something tonight.

Tonight's Best Bets:

Race 2: #5 Shake Djibouti. She did not get out to a good break in her debut from post position number 2, today she gets on the outer part of the track and trainer Jaime Gomez does good with runners making their second start. I like the connections and I like the breeding. I think she will run big tonight. 5-2 on the morning line.

Race 6: #3 Fiesty Flo. She stumbled at the start in her debut from the rail post and rallied nicely to get up for second after being far back early. She has all the potential to improve a lot in her second start tonight for Jose Flores. Cruz Mendez us up. I like that she is next to the other favorite, #4 Flying Top Fuel, who won his debut with a good break. Fiesty Flo should get a good target to run with. She is 9-5 on the morning line (second choice).

Selections:

Race 1:  2-4-5
Race 2:  6-3-7
Race 3:  1-7-3
Race 4:  1-8-4
Race 5:  2-7-1
Race 6:  3-2-6
Race 7:  7-6-2
Race 8:  2-8-1
Race 9:  7-4-5

My plays:

Race 1 - $1 Pick Four:  1,2,4,5,6 / 6 / 1,7 / 1,8 = $20

Race 6 - $1 Pick Four:  3 / 1,2,5,6,7 / 1,2,8 / 4,7 = $30

Fresh off a small layoff, let's get it!

The GII $200,000 La Primera Del Año Derby

Ladies first.

The fillies headline the night at Los Alamitos Race Course with the running of the GII $200,000 La Primera Del Año Derby at the distance of 400 yards. The boys will run in the El Primero Del Año Derby tomorrow night.

The 9-horse field is led by the fastest qualifier, Revv Me up. She comes into this race off of just breaking her maiden in the trials three weeks ago in a very good looking win. She qualified to two futurities last year as a two-year-old and seems to have taking a liking to this 400 yard distance. Although she was a maiden all through 2012, she did face talented runners like One Dashing Eagle, Mr Ease Cartel, Nellie Delaney, Required Fire, Blackberry Czech and others.

It's good to see jockeys Carlos Huerta (Race 4) and Jay Conklin (Race 7) back in the saddle tonight.

Let's get to the selections.

Race 1:  1-2-3
Race 2:  2-8-3
Race 3:  1-2-6
Race 4:  2-1-5
Race 5:  2-3-5
Race 6:  4-1-3
Race 7:  6-4-2
Race 8:  5-4-6
Race 9:  2-9-3

Race 1-$1 Early Pick Four ($36):  1,2,3,5 / 2,3,8 / 1,2,6 / 2

Race 6-$1 Late Pick Four ($24):  4 / 1,2,4,6 / 4,5 / 2,3,9

Let's get it!

All Thoroughbred Early Pick Four

The view from theVessels Club at Los Alamitos

The racing week kicks off at Los Alamitos Race Course tonight with an 8-race card that features a total of five thoroughbred & three quarter horse events. The early pick-4 is composed of four thoroughbred events that look to have good competitive fields. I expect a good early pick four pool to begin the night. I was not able to find any singles for the early pick four on my ticket so i will tackle it with a $36 play.

My best bet of the night is in race 6, #1 Fast Tracking. This gelding ran too good to lose last out when second at the $5,000 level. He has eight wins from 16 starts here at Los Alamitos and takes a small drop in class to the $4,000 level. Also take note that Ramon Guce, who was aboard two of his last four wins, is back in the saddle tonight. Hope we get all of that 5-to-2 morning line.

Let's get to the selections.

Race 1:  5-3-1
Race 2:  1-6-7
Race 3:  8-3-6
Race 4:  3-8-4
Race 5:  1-4-6
Race 6:  1-5-6
Race 7:  1-4-3
Race 8:  1-4-6

Race 1 - $1 Early Pick Four ($36):  1,3,5 / 1,6 / 3,8 / 3,4,8

Race 5 - $1 Late Pick Four ($32):  1,4,5,6 / 1 / 1,4 / 1,3,4,6

Good Luck!