Los Alamitos pick six pool could hit $200K
The pick six pool at Los Alamitos is expected to exceed $200,000 on Friday night, with a carryover of $65,738 certain to lure widespread interest.
The pick six sequence includes two sprints for Thoroughbreds and four Quarter Horse races, the last of which is a $15,000 handicap.
First post is 7 p.m. Pacific, with the start of the pick six – race 3 – at 7:48. Friday’s program is the first at Los Alamitos since Jan. 31. The track took off the first weekend of February for maintenance on its lighting system.
The third race is a $2,500 claimer for Thoroughbreds at 4 1/2 furlongs. The race drew 10 entrants but will be limited to eight starters. Cop Along Cassidy faces winners for the first time, having won a $3,500 claiming race for maidens at 4 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 16 in his 13th start. The race lacks a standout, which could help the chances of Scud, the winner of a maiden claimer in December.
In the fourth race, a $10,000 claimer at 330 yards, Djd Special Stone may be the most reliable away from the gate. Trained by Bret Vickery, he won twice in 2015. A Regal Beauty, a two-time winner last year, races for the first time since August.
Trainer Angela Aquino has two leading hopes in the fifth race, a $3,500 claimer for Thoroughbred maidens at 4 1/2 furlongs. Aquino starts Dinner’s On Me, a troubled fourth on Jan. 30, and the Golden Gate Fields import Montrone.
There are six California-bred Quarter Horse maidens in the sixth race at 300 yards. Among the contenders are the first-time starter One Sweet Winner; J B Perry, who was second on Jan. 10; and I Wont Give Up, second last June.
Granodeorofino, who has won consecutive starts since mid-December, is one of six older Quarter Horses in the seventh race, an allowance race at 330 yards. A 4-year-old filly, Granodeorofino must beat Tango in Cash, a 4-year-old colt who finished second in consecutive stakes in December and January.
The evening’s final race, the $15,000 Costa Mesa Handicap at 350 yards, may have a key selection in Zoomin for Spuds, the winner of the Wild West Futurity at Los Alamitos in October. Trained by Vickery, Zoomin for Spuds was second in a division of the Los Alamitos Winter Derby trials on Jan. 23 but did not have a final time quick enough to qualify for Saturday’s final.