Del Mar condition book bans certain horses who race at Los Alamitos
Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields, and Santa Anita are enacting a policy later this summer to ban horses that run in two consecutive 1,000-yard races for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds at Los Alamitos.
The loosely worded terms, which appear in the first condition book of the Del Mar summer meeting, urge Thoroughbred trainers to communicate with racing officials at three venues before entering at Los Alamitos.
Races at 1,000 yards have become more prevalent at Los Alamitos in the last 13 months. In April and May of 2020, some Thoroughbred trainers based at Santa Anita ran horses in 1,000-yard races at Los Alamitos when Santa Anita was closed because of the pandemic. Los Alamitos, located in Orange County, ran during those months without interruption.
In recent months, Los Alamitos has run 1,000-yard races under allowance conditions that have attracted some Santa Anita-based runners. Los Alamitos has used such races to fill programs when Santa Anita has struggled to attract sufficient entries for dirt races.
The policy begins on July 16, with the start of the Del Mar summer meeting, and will be in place at the Santa Anita autumn meeting, according to Santa Anita racing secretary Chris Merz.
Merz said on Wednesday that trainers with such runners are urged to contact the racing offices at Thoroughbred tracks in an effort to find suitable races at those venues.
“We want them to have an open dialogue with us,” he said.