Los Alamitos Futurity added to Kentucky Derby points series

The $500,000 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 20, the final major stakes of the year for 2-year-olds, has been added to the list of qualifying races for the 2015 Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs announced Wednesday.

The Los Alamitos Futurity will be the top race for 2-year-olds at the Los Alamitos December Thoroughbred meeting, which replaces racing dates previously run at Hollywood Park. In recent years, Hollywood Park ran the $750,000 CashCall Futurity in December. In 2013, the CashCall Futurity was omitted from the Kentucky Derby qualifying system.

The $350,000 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos on Dec. 13 will be part of the qualifying system for the 2015 Kentucky Oaks, Churchill Downs announced. The Starlet, previously run at Hollywood Park, is part of a 31-race qualifying schedule for the Kentucky Oaks.

A points system has been in place for the Kentucky Derby since 2012, with runners earning points by finishing in the first four positions in 35 major stakes from September of the previous year.

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The Los Alamitos Futurity, run over 1 1/16 miles, will have a points value of 10-4-2-1 for the first four finishers. By comparison, the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, tentatively scheduled for April 4, has a points value of 100-40-20-1 for the first four finishers.

Earlier this year, 20 points were needed to earn a berth in the Kentucky Derby.

Los Alamitos, which runs a year-round night meeting for Quarter Horses and lower-level Thoroughbreds, is hosting three Thoroughbred meetings during the day this year – in July, September, and December. The July and December dates had been run at Hollywood Park, which closed in December; the September dates had been run at the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona.