Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.Racing Returns to Los Alamitos for 2006 Meet
Posted on Monday, December 19th, 2005
Racing returns at Los Alamitos Race Course in 2006, as the Southern California track has announced its richest stakes schedule ever with over $10.23 million in stakes purse money up for grabs next year.
Los Alamitos will kick off its upcoming season on Monday, December 26, 2005. First post on opening night will be 5:30 p.m. The opening weekend will feature racing on Thursday, December 29, Friday, December 30 and Sunday, January 1, 2006.
There will be no live racing on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31. Starting on Thursday, January 5, 2006, Los Alamitos will race on its usual Thursday through Sunday basis. In addition, there will be no live racing at Los Alamitos on Super Bowl Sunday, February 5; Thursday, September 7, and Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 23, 2006.
To kick-off the track’s richest stakes schedule ever, the winter portion of the meet will offer several important races for a variety of racing divisions. The running of the Grade 1 $100,000 added Charger Bar Handicap for mares at 400 yards on January 7; the Grade 3 $20,000 added Moonshiner Handicap at 870 yards on January 28; the Grade 1 $200,000 guaranteed Los Alamitos Winter Derby at 400 yards on February 24; and the Grade 1 $200,000 Los Alamitos Winter Championship at 400 yards on February 25, are some of the highlights for the winter part of the meet.
Season Highlights:
The 56th year of racing at Los Alamitos will again feature the running of one of the richest derbies in Quarter Horse racing - the $700,000 estimated Los Alamitos Super Derby on Saturday, November 12. The weekend of December 8 through 10, 2006 will feature four of the best Grade 1 races in the country.
The Grade 1 $2 million guaranteed Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Friday, December 8, the Grade 1 $600,000 Champion of Champions on Saturday, December 9 and the Grade 1 $150,000 estimated Southern California Derby and Grade 1 $100,000 Marathon National, the sport’s richest 870-yard race, on Sunday, December 10.
The 6th annual California Breeders Champions Night, featuring an all-Quarter Horse stakes program for Cal-Breds, is set for Saturday, July 29. One of the most important events on the stakes schedule, Champions Night features the $400,000 estimated Governor’s Cup Futurity, $130,000 estimated Governor’s Cup Derby, and the $150,000 Spencer Childers California Breeders Championship.
In addition, Los Alamitos is the only racetrack in the United States to have three $1 million races as part of its annual stakes schedule. The three million dollar races make up the Los Alamitos Bonanza, a program that offers a $1 million cash bonus to the connections of any horse that can sweep the Ed Burke Million Futurity, Golden State Million Futurity and the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity.
The Bonanza races are expected to be richer than ever in 2006, as the $1 million guaranteed Ed Burke Million figures to be a $1,150,000 event, while the $1 million guaranteed Golden State Million is estimated to feature its richest purse ever at $1.3 million.
The Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity will be the richest race ever in the 56-year history of the Orange County oval. The Ed Burke Million is the first leg of the Los Alamitos Bonanza and will be run on Saturday, June 24 with the Golden State Million serving as the second leg when it is run on Sunday, November 5.
Total stakes purses are expected to exceed $10.23 million, a national Quarter Horse record. A total of 24 races are expected to boast purses of $100,000 or more next season. Nine of those will have purses of $250,000 or more.
Complete racing season schedule will be posted at Los Alamitos’ website.
"Racing Returns to Los Alamitos for 2006 Meet" was posted on Monday, December 19th, 2005 at 5:25 pm and is filed under Horse Racing Industry, Race Tracks News, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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