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Decent field sizes bring value to card
The challenge to fill races in California gets tougher in spring at Los Alamitos, which begins the second week of its three-week daytime meet on Friday.
Brad FreeJun 24, 2026
The challenge to fill races in California gets tougher in spring at Los Alamitos, which begins the second week of its three-week daytime meet on Friday.
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Despite the narrow loss, there was a lot to like about the last race from Inspeightofcharlie, a nose defeat May 10 at Aqueduct. Aside from the price, there certainly is a lot to like about Inspeightofcharlie Friday, when he makes a second attempt at clearing the first-level New York-bred allowance condition going 1 1/16 miles over Aqueduct's inner turf course.
Four of the seven 3-year-olds entered in Friday's $70,000 optional-claiming and allowance feature will come into the race off a victory. But it will be the stakes-placed Wootun who could garner the most attention from bettors.
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Good losses tend to be underappreciated, and Rhetorical definitely had one in the Manhattan Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga.
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White Abarrio, vanquisher of Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sovereignty in the Oaklawn Handicap, shipped earlier this week from his base at Gulfstream Park to Churchill Downs for Saturday's $2 million Stephen Foster Stakes.
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Commandment has the Jim Dandy Stakes on Aug. 1 as his next target, a prep for the $1.25 million Travers four weeks later.
If you were to judge a creature strictly by the company he keeps, you would expect American Promise to win the featured 10th race Friday at Churchill Downs.
Mr. A. P., unraced since finishing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall at Del Mar, did not work last weekend as usual, but no worries. Trainer Vladimir Cerin said Mr. A. P. was coming around too quickly, and Cerin did not want the colt ready too soon, hence the skipped work.
Gold Phoenix will carry the Little Red Feather banner this summer at Del Mar, where he will seek his fifth consecutive win in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap. However, a pair of stakes winners co-owned by Little Red Feather and trained by Phil D'Amato will miss the summer season, according to Little Red Feather managing partner Billy Koch.
The $100,000 Bertrando Stakes for older California-breds last Saturday at Los Alamitos came and went without multiple stakes winner Vodka Vodka, but the weekend was not a total wash for the 5-year-old gelding.