From Los Alamitos Publicity
CYPRESS, Calif. – Three stakes – including a pair a graded races – highlight the 2018 Summer Thoroughbred Festival at Los Alamitos.
The 12-day season will begin Thursday, June 28 and continue through Sunday, July 15. Racing will be conducted – with one exception – on a Thursday-Sunday basis. There will be a special holiday program Wednesday, July 4. A dark day will follow (Thursday, July 5) before racing resumes Friday, July 6. Post time will be 1 p.m.
The final two Saturdays of the meet will feature the Grade II, $200,000-guaranteed Great Lady M. Stakes and the Grade III, $150,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos Derby.
The Great Lady M., which is for fillies and mares – 3-year-olds & up – at 6 ½ furlongs, will be offered Saturday, July 7 and is expected to attract defending champion Skye Diamonds.
Won by eventual 3-year-old champion West Coast in 2017, the Los Alamitos Derby, which is for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles, will be run Saturday, July 14.
The other stakes race that will be offered during the meet is the $100,000 Bertrando for older California breds at one mile. The fifth renewal will be run Wednesday, July 4. The field is likely to include Soi Phet, a 10-year-old who has won four stakes at Los Alamitos, including the inaugural Bertrando in 2014.
A pair of handicapping contests will be offered – Wednesday, July 4 and Saturday, July 14 – with as many as six berths available to the 2019 National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.
Additionally, Los Alamitos representatives will visit various simulcast locations during the meet offering giveaways and contests.
Grandstand admission is $3 and $2 for seniors 62 and older. Clubhouse admission is $5 and Vessels Club is $10. Los Alamitos offered free general parking. Preferred parking is $5.
The wagering menu has been altered slightly as the minimum for the Pick 4 – which is offered daily on races 2-5 and the final four races – is now $1. This change from the previous minimum of 50 cents makes it uniform with the nighttime quarter horse programs where Pick Four pools have soared in recent months.
The Late Pick 4 handled a record $203,647 June 10, one night after the Early Pick 4 pool was $229,207, the second largest in Los Alamitos history. A total of $1,088,412 was wagered on the Early and Late Pick 4’s the weekend of May 18-20.
The menu also includes the $2 Pick Six as well as the extremely popular Players’ Pick 5 – a 50-cent minimum bet with a reduced takeout rate of 14% rate – 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 with the remaining 30% going to tickets with five of six winners.
Entries for opening day will be taken Monday, June 25.