Los Alamitos 1,000-yard series underway
Los Alamitos will run three 1,000-yard races worth $30,000 to $50,000 on Nov. 27 for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds that earn points in 870- and 1,000-yard races during the track’s year-round evening meeting.
The 1,000-yard races are essentially run at 4 1/2 furlongs. The field for the $50,000 race will be determined by purse earnings in races at 870- and 1,000-yard distances from March 12 to Nov. 21.
The 10 horses with the highest earnings will earn berths, with Quarter Horses preferred, although the division has been largely dominated by Thoroughbreds in recent years.
The formation of the $50,000 race was announced in March, while the two $30,000 races were announced in late May.
One $30,000 race will be restricted to fillies and mares, while the other will be for the 11th through 20th-ranked horses for the $50,000 race.
It is possible an eligible horse can be claimed in coming months that has sufficient earnings to participate.
As of Sunday, the 10 leading candidates for the $50,000 race were Thoroughbreds.
Races at 1,000 yards at Los Alamitos increased in popularity in April and early May of 2020 when Santa Anita was briefly closed during the pandemic, and Los Alamitos continued to race. Some Santa Anita-based trainers sent horses to Los Alamitos to run in 1,000-yard allowance races at that time, and horses with recent Santa Anita form remain frequent participants.
The races continue to remain popular. On Friday’s eight-race program, the first two races will be run at 1,000 yards – a maiden special weight race and an allowance race – which drew two fields of six consisting entirely of Thoroughbreds.
The third and fourth races are run at 4 1/2 furlongs for Thoroughbreds.
Through 1993 legislation, Los Alamitos is permitted to run races for Thoroughbreds at 4 1/2 furlongs for claiming values of $5,000 or less. There is no class restrictions on 1,000-yard races open to Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses.
During the current meeting, from opening day on Dec. 26 through Sunday, 525 races had been run with 127 at 1,000 yards for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds, and 120 at 4 1/2 furlongs for Thoroughbreds.
In May, track officials at Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields, and Santa Anita announced a policy to ban horses that run in two consecutive 1,000-yard races at Los Alamitos and do no participate in races at those Thoroughbred tracks in the interim.
The loosely worded terms of the policy urge Thoroughbred trainers to communicate with racing officials at the three venues before entering at Los Alamitos. The policy begins with the start of the Del Mar summer meeting on July 16
Track officials at those venues have stressed the desire to provide suitable opportunities for sprint Thoroughbreds at their venues instead of Los Alamitos.
Streakin Victory dies at age 33
Streakin Victory, a Quarter Horse gelding who raced throughout Texas and New Mexico before being moved to Los Alamitos in 1996, died recently at the age of 33, former trainer Scott Willoughby said on Tuesday.
Streakin Victory had lived at Ed Allred’s ranch in Atascadero, Calif., since the late 2000s. Willoughby said Streakin Victory was lost to age-related infirmities.
“He was really tough. He was an amazing horse,” Willoughby said.
Streakin Victory won 26 of 121 starts in a career highlighted by a win in the $50,000 Challenge Distance Championship at Los Alamitos in 1997. Streakin Victory specialized in races at 870 yards in the final years of his career, which stretched from 1990 to 2000.
Streakin Victory outlasted three racetracks where he was a winner - Bandera Downs, near San Antonio, Trinity Meadows, west of Fort Worth, and The Woodlands in Kansas City.
Following his racing days, Streakin Victory had a second career as a roping horse for Willoughby and retired Quarter Horse jockey Danny Cardoza.
Willoughby began training Streakin Victory in 1993 and said the gelding’s success allowed him to relocate from New Mexico to Los Alamitos where he is among the leading trainers.