Fall Thoroughbred meet begins Thursday

The Los Alamitos autumn Thoroughbred meeting begins Thursday, runs through Dec. 20, and includes two $300,000, Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles – the Starlet Stakes for fillies Dec. 12 and the Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19.

The first stakes of the meeting is Saturday’s $100,000 Soviet Problem Stakes for 2-year-old California-bred fillies at a mile. The meeting has four stakes, including the $100,000 King Glorious for California-breds on Dec. 12, meaning there are no added-money races scheduled for the three Sunday programs.

There are eight races scheduled for opening day, with first post at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.

The Starlet and Los Alamitos Futurity will not be run at Los Alamitos in 2016. Track officials informed the California Horse Racing Board earlier this month that the track’s two-week meeting in December 2016 is too short to generate sufficient revenue for purses to run the lucrative races. It is unclear whether the races will be contested at Del Mar or Santa Anita or not held at all.