Lucky Peridot, Paige Runner do their best work at Los Alamitos

A summer stakes race that was hanging on for dear life finally lost its grip.

The Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby was scheduled for Saturday, but after four-horse fields the past two years, the 2021 edition drew insufficient entries and was not carded. It instead will be held Sunday with a five-horse field.

Lacking a marquee event, the Los Alamitos nine-race program Saturday has a weekday feel. The two top races, both for fillies and mares at a mile, drew five entrants each – race 2 is a starter allowance, race 8 is an entry-level allowance. One other non-claiming event Saturday is race 3, a maiden sprint with an apparent cinch.

Horse-for-course specialists Lucky Peridot and Paige Runner meet in race 2, a $25,000 claiming starter. They won’t be in each other’s way. Lucky Peridot rallies from behind, Paige Runner typically presses the pace. Sugary, Tizno’s Dilemma, and Flatterwithjewels also were entered.

Lucky Peridot holds a slight advantage based on recent form. Lucky Peridot was claimed for $25,000 one month ago when second on turf. Kristin Mulhall is her new trainer, Abel Cedillo retains the mount, and Lucky Peridot is running over a Los Alamitos surface on which she is 2 for 3. She is 1 for 21 everywhere else.

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Lucky Peridot’s chief rival is likely pacesetter Paige Runner, who will be making her first start since April and also is 2 for 3 at Los Alamitos. Lorenzo Ruis trains Paige Runner, a six-time winner whose rider is Edwin Maldonado. The mare’s only pace foe is Flatterwithjewels, whose ownership group also shares an interest in Paige Runner.

Pick five bettors may conclude the Saturday sequence (races 1-5) is a virtual pick four, due to the apparent dominance of favorite Delta Wind in race 3. She missed by a neck last out in her second career start, a highly rated maiden race at Santa Anita from which the first-, third-, and fourth-place finishers returned to win.

Delta Wind, who earned a 82 Beyer Speed Figure, is based at Los Alamitos where she continues to work fast. John Sadler trains Delta Wind, apprentice Jessica Pyfer will ride. The speed of the field, drawn outside in the 5 1/2-furlong sprint for California-bred maiden fillies and mares, Delta Wind should be long gone at a short price.

Harper’s Gallop and She’s a Dime will be well-bet in race 8. Harper’s Gallop won her recent comeback against California-bred allowance rivals; She’s a Dime finished second last out in a similar entry-level allowance. Arctic Roll, Risen Lady, and Feathers also entered.