Los Alamitos continues to set evening handle records

The record for a single-night handle at Los Alamitos lasted all of one day.

After wagering reached a record $2,466,567 on a nine-race program Friday, bettors contributed $2,843,573 on Saturday’s nine-race program.

Until the weekend, the record for an evening program was $2,379,112 wagered on a 13-race program of Quarter Horse stakes in November 2013.

Those figures are still well below the track’s all-time record of $10,207,181 set on a nine-race daytime Thoroughbred program in December 2016 that included a victory by Horse of the Year California Chrome in the Los Alamitos Winter Invitational.

The evening records set this weekend consisted of bets placed entirely through account-wagering sources. Similar to the small number of venues currently operating in the United States, Los Alamitos is conducting racing without ontrack spectators because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Saturday’s program included four races for Thoroughbred at 4 1/2 furlongs, a 1,000-yard race for Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds that drew only Thoroughbreds, and four races for Quarter Horses at 300- and 330 yards.

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The $1 early pick four, consisting of three races at 4 1/2 furlongs and the 1,000-yard race, had a record pool of $442,781, easily surpassing the previous mark of $335,918 set on April 11. Saturday’s early pick four paid $3,861, boosted by a shocking win by Sharpest One ($198.60) in the third race.

Los Alamitos was one of two American tracks operating on Saturday evening and the only signal available to account-wagering bettors after Remington Park concluded its Quarter Horse program.

Interest in racing at Los Alamitos has been boosted in recent weeks because of the dearth of opportunities throughout the nation.

The complexion of the race programs at Los Alamitos has changed this month.

Los Alamitos has attracted more sprint Thoroughbreds based at Santa Anita for 870-yard and 1,000-yard races. Santa Anita is temporarily closed because of the coronavirus outbreak. It is unclear when Santa Anita will reopen.