LOS ALAMITOS BEGINS WINTER MEET THURSDAY

By Robert Mieszerski —-

STARLET, LOS ALAMITOS CASHCALL FUTURITY TO BE RUN DEC. 10;
CALIFORNIA CHROME LIKELY FOR WINTER CHALLENGE DEC. 17

CYPRESS, Calif. —The third and final Thoroughbred meet of 2016 at Los Alamitos will begin Thursday, Dec. 8.

The eight-day Winter season follows the 12-day Los Angeles County Fair at Los Alamitos meet in September and the 12-day Spring Thoroughbred meet in April.

Racing will be conducted on a Thursday-Sunday basis through Dec. 18. Post time will be 1 p.m on weekdays and 12:30 p.m. on weekends.

The two-week meet will be highlighted by a pair of Grade I races for 2-year-olds – the $300,000-guaranteed Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity and the $300,000-guaranteed Starlet – Saturday, Dec. 10 followed a week later by $100,000-guaranteed Winter Challenge which is expected to feature the final start in California for California Chrome, who has been based at Los Alamitos for nearly three years.
The Futurity is one of the races on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby’’ with the winner receiving 10 points towards a berth in the Kentucky Derby next May 6 at Churchill Downs.

Among the leading candidates for the Futurity is Mastery, who is undefeated in two starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won both renewals of the Futurity – Dortmund (2014) and Mor Spirit (2015) – since the race was moved to Los Alamitos from the now-closed Hollywood Park.

Baffert has won the race, which was run in Inglewood from 1981-2013, a record eight times.

The Starlet – which is restricted to fillies – is one of the events on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks.’’ The winner earns 10 points towards a spot in the Kentucky Oaks next May 5.

Both the CashCall Futurity and the Starlet will be run at 1 1/16 miles.

The world’s richest thoroughbred and 2014 Horse of the Year, California Chrome is expected to have 4-6 rivals in the Winter Challenge – also to be run at 1 1/16 miles – as he preps for next month’s $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.

The inaugural World Cup, which is scheduled for Jan. 28, is supposed to be California Chrome’s final start before he begins his stud career at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky.

Owned by Taylor Made and co-breeder Perry Martin, the 5-year-old son of Lucky Pulpit has won 15 of 25 and earned $14,452,650 for trainer Art Sherman.

Completing the stakes program are a pair of one mile races for 2-year-olds bred or sired in California – the $100,000-guaranteed Soviet Problem for fillies and the $100,000-guaranteed King Glorious.

The Soviet Problem will be contested Saturday, Dec. 17 while the King Glorious, which was won by California Chrome at Hollywood Park in 2013, will be offered Sunday, Dec. 18.

Track gates – including the Clubhouse and Vessels Club – will open at 9:30 a.m. General parking is free with grandstand admission $3 ($2 for seniors).

The wagering menu includes the Pick Six, a pair of Pick 4’s – races 2-5 and the final four races – as well as the extremely popular Players’ Pick 5 – a 50-cent minimum wager with a reduced 14% takeout rate which is offered on the first five races.

In addition to the Winter Challenge and the Soviet Problem, the Dec. 17 program will feature a live money handicapping contest with a minimum of three seats available to the 2017 Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas. A fourth seat will be awarded if there are more than 120 entrants in the contest.

There will also be three giveaways during the meet, beginning with a Los Alamitos holiday ornament Dec. 10. The others are a 2017 wall calendar (Dec. 11) and a Los Alamitos beanie (Dec. 17). The giveaway items are one per paid admission while supplies last.

The opening day feature – the seventh of eight races – is a $20,000 starter allowance for older horses at one mile. The field of nine includes sharp Northern California shipper Shackleford Banks and local winners Rough Passage, Out of Patience, Over Achiever, Tiz Love, Roman Tizzy and and Perfect Set.

Owned by Joseph P. Morey, Jr. Revocable Trust and trained by Bill Morey, Shackleford Banks will be ridden by Stewart Elliott, who was the leading jockey at the Los Angeles County Fair meet.

A 5-year-old gelded son of Offlee Wild and the Afternoon Deelites mare Queens Carosel, Shackleford Banks has won 11 of 26 and banked $107,840.

From inside out, the field: Rough Passage, Tyler Baze rides, 124 pounds; Shackleford Banks, Stewart Elliott, 124; Comes the Dream, Mike Smith, 124; Hawk’s Eyes, Tiago Pereira, 124; Roman Tizzy, Norberto Arroyo, Jr., 124; Out of Patience, Joe Talamo, 124; Perfect Set, Santiago Gonzalez, 124; Over Achiever Drayden Van Dyke, 124 and Tiz Love, Iggy Puglisi, 124.