GI Los Alamitos Winter Championship Trials

The road to the prestigious 2013 GI Champion of Champions begins tonight at Los Alamitos Race Course with the running of the GI Winter Championship trials. Nineteen older horses will sprint 400 yards in two trials, races 7 & 8, in search of being one of the ten fastest qualifiers that will return for the final.

Once the final comes around on Sunday February 17, the winner will earn the Grade I win and also receive an automatic berth to the 2013 $750,000 Champion of Champions.

The winner of the 2012 GI Champion of Champions, Rylees Boy, looks to begin his 2013 campaign with another big performance tonight. The 8-year-old gelding will break from post position 3 in race number 7. Trainer Paul Jones had a great night in last night's Winter Derby trials, will he stay hot tonight?

Other good runners that will definitely draw some attention are El Aguila Real (two GI wins in 2012), New Look (back to back stakes wins), Cold Cash 123 (2011 Quarter Horse of the Year), Check My Thoughts (GI So CA Derby winner), Kaz On Fly (Handicap winner, improving), Hez Our Secret (neck away from GI Super Derby win), and many more.

Last night's pick-4's paid great, we missed out but let's try to get one tonight.

Race 1:  4-5-2
Race 2:  5-4-2
Race 3:  4-6-2
Race 4:  7-6-1
Race 5:  6-3-2
Race 6:  4-5-3
Race 7:  3-5-9
Race 8:  10-3-5

My plays:

Race 1 - $1 Early Pick Four ($20):  2,4,5,6 / 5 / 2,3,4,5,6 / 7

Race 5 - $1 Late Pick Four ($24):  3,6 / 4 / 3,5,9 / 2,3,5,10

Let's get 'em!

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Trials to GI $232,650 Los Alamitos Winter Derby

A total of 42 runners will sprint 400 yards in six trials (last six races on the card) in search of being one of the top ten fastest qualifiers to the GI $232,650 Winter Derby final.

Without a doubt the most high-profile runner in these trials is The August Heat who finish second in last year's $2Million Futurity by a nose. He will go in tonight's fifth race.

Another runner that i am looking forward to seeing in action is Without Fault who is 2-for-2 in her career. In her last allowance triumph, she won despite breaking through the gate prior to the start of the race. The daughter of TR Dasher has much room for upside and shows a 12.0 workout leading up to this race. She will break from post #2 in race number seven.

There is plenty of room for improvement for all of these newly turned 3-year-olds and I would not be surprised to see a few upsets on tonight's card. Let's get to it.


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

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Early Pick Four ($24):  7 / 1,6 / 5,6 / 1,2,4,5,6,7

Race 6 - $1 Late Pick Four ($28):  1 / 2 / All / 1,2,4,5

Good Luck!

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GIII Holy Bull & $637,328 Rainbow Pick Six Carryover

The road to the Kentucky Derby continues today at Gulfstream Park with the running of the GIII $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes where a field of ten 3-year-olds will try to take a step forward towards Kentucky.

The reigning Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, Shanghai Bobby, is looking to remain undefeated in his sixth lifetime start but the competition is tough and many horses make a big improvement over the winter, and it will be interesting to see how the Holy Bull shapes up. This is definitely a talented field.

Speaking of big money at stake in the Holy Bull, there is also big money on the table in the ten-cent pick six at Gulfstream. $637,328 is already and the pool and I expect plenty of new money to be added today. The jackpot will only payout completely if the is only one unique winning ticket. If there are multiple winners, a portion of the pot is paid out and divided between the winning tickets and another portion is kept into the carryover pool until it is hit.

Given that it is a ten-cent bet, it is a great bet that has the potential to pay big with very little money invested. I am keying in my play with #3 My Happy Face in the $200,000 Forward Gal Stakes (Race 8). I think this filly will move forward in a big way for Trainer Rudy Rodriguez. She showed great speed and determination at a longer distance in her last win and I believe she will be tough at this slightly shorter distance. She has some good workouts on tap for her 3-year-old debut today.

Let's Play the pick-6 which begins in race 6:

Race   6:  3,5,6
Race   7:  3,6,7
Race   8:  3
Race   9:  3,4,9,11
Race 10:  1,2,4,6
Race 11:  7,8

Total amount of the ticket is $28.80

Good Luck!

Remember that Santa Anita Park also has a great card with six stakes worth over $1.1 Million Dollars and also Los Alamitos Race Course has trials to the GI $232,650 Los Alamitos Winter Derby.

Stay tuned to my blog for more of Santa Anita Park and Los Alamitos, also give me a follow on twitter @LosPonies.

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$50,000 claimer highlights the card at Los Alamitos

The week of racing at Los Alamitos Race Course begins with a nine-race card on this Friday night of racing. Rain has hit the Southern California area almost the entire day and with that, the track is currently listed as wet fast.

From previous runnings over wet conditions at Los Al, the Thoroughbred events seem to be dominated by early speed and that is why my key play will be my single in the first race of the night. I am singling #1 Deer Creek who has shown enough speed in past efforts to be close to the lead. This filly, who is a maiden, was running against winners last out at a much higher level and now drops to the level in which she ran a good second. In that December 16th effort, she broke good and showed enough pace to earn second place. The morning line favorite #3 Joyfull Julia ran a good second in her first start locally when closing late. Looking for Deer Creek to get a good break, get the lead early and control the pace.

Tonight's feature race is a $50,000 claiming event (Race 8) that has a good field of six entrants sprinting three hundred yards. Two runners, #2 Check Rosie Out and #6 Pepe El Trueno, are coming off of long layoffs but have shown ability in past efforts that make them competitive here. In this field there is also two runners that recently ran in graded stakes: #1 Tac Out and #3 Touch of Paso. Their class might prove to be the edge.

The weekend of racing will be showcasing some great racing with trials to the GI Los Alamitos Winter Derby to be run on Saturday and trials to the GI Los Alamitos Winter Championship to be run on Sunday. Don't miss it.

In the Thoroughbred space, the road to the Kentucky Derby continues with the GIII $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes tomorrow at Gulfstream Park. Will Shanghai Bobby and Rosie Napravnik remain undefeated? Tune in!

Also, Santa Anita Park has a great 10-race card tomorrow that features six stakes races worth a total of over $1.1 Million Dollars. I am not missing that!

Let's warm up by tackling the Los Alamitos card tonight:

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

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Early Pick Four ($18):  1 / 1,2,5 / 1,2 / 3,6,7

Race 6 - $1 Late Pick Four ($16):  5 / 1 / 3,4,5,6 / 1,2,3,6

Good Luck!

As always, I will also be tweeting: @LosPonies

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Cypress Handicap at Los Alamitos

The week of racing concludes today at Los Alamitos Race Course with the running of the Cypress Handicap, a field of eight four-year-olds will sprint 350 yards. The Cypress will go off as the last race of the night on the nine-race card that is set for a first post of 5:15pm Pacific.

My top pick for the Cypress is #4 Consider. This gelding has shown great efforts in the past that suggest he will be tough here. He comes out of a fourth-place finish in the GI Southern California Derby, he is 3-1 on Ed Burgart's morning line which lands him the role of the favorite. The field of eight is a talented group and a case can be made for each of the runners, I will go deep in my pick four play.

Let's get to the selections.

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

My plays:

Race 1-$1 Early Pick Four ($24):  7 / All / 3 / 2,3,4,6

Race 6-$1 Late Pick Four ($24):  4 / 2 / 1,2,3,4 / 2,3,4,5,6,8

Good luck!

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The 550-yard Barbra B Handicap at Los Alamitos

Even though I have been sharing my plays and tips on twitter, it has been a while since I last posted a blog.

Tonight I am tackling the card at Los Alamitos Race Course which features the running of the Barbra B Handicap at the fun distance of 550 yards. A field of seven will line up at the farthest spot that the starting gate can set up in the stretch and the Barbra B will go off as the last race on the card. Take note that four of the seven runners in this race come out of the Paul Ford Handicap which was also contested at this 550 yard distance.

My selection, #7 Perfect Place, is trying this distance for the first time but does have some Thoroughbred breeding lines in his DNA that should help him handle this longer-than-normal distance for a Quarter Horse. He is entering this race fresh off a layoff and has shown ability in his previous four starts. Looking for a big effort.

Let's get to the selections and plays!

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

My Plays:

Race 1-$1 Early Pick Four ($36):  2,5,7 / All / 1,7 / 3

Race 6-$1 Late Pick Four ($48):  All / 1,2,3,6 / 3.6 / 6

Good Luck!

Stay tuned to my twitter @LosPonies for more plays.

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