Northern California runners help fatten opening-day fields at Los Alamitos

Big fields and attractive betting opportunities on Friday at Los Alamitos typically would be cause for celebration, though festivities are quieter this season.

Los Alamitos begins its three-week daytime meet with an eight-race card bursting at the seams. Average field size is 9.6 before considering also-eligibles. It’s all good, except racing will be held with no fans and limited owners ontrack. It is an unfortunate byproduct of the COVID shutdown, which is also a reason for the overflow entries.

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A spike in COVID cases caused Golden Gate Fields to temporarily shut down racing. That left approximately 1,300 horses at that track with just one viable option – ship and race in Southern California. The effects are apparent opening day at Los Alamitos.

Some 85 horses entered the eight-race Friday card at Los Alamitos, including 18 from Golden Gate.

“It’s a lot more than we normally have,” Los Al racing secretary Bob Moreno acknowledged.

In addition to shippers from Northern California, Moreno also noted that certain class levels at Los Alamitos attract horses that might not have found an appropriate race at Del Mar, which ended its meet on Sunday. Los Alamitos officials expected the numbers would be good for Friday before entries were drawn.

“We were hopeful and kind of expected it,” Moreno said. “Some of the cheaper horses run here that did not run at Del Mar, and I’m looking at [many] trainers from Golden Gate that sent horses here.”

Northern California’s perennial leading trainer Jonathan Wong entered three for Friday’s card. Until the Golden Gate COVID situation is resolved, Wong will look to the south.

“We’re going to run as many as possible at Los Alamitos, unless we hear different from Golden Gate,” Wong said. “We don’t know when we’re going to open back up. Instead of waiting, my owners want to run.”

Northern California runners will find ample opportunities at Los Alamitos. Aside from races such as the Grade 1 Starlet for 2-year-old fillies on Saturday and Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 19, the Los Alamitos all-dirt program is largely based on bread-and-butter claiming races.

Six races Friday are for claimers, including a maiden-claiming sprint for 2-year-olds, race 3, that is the opening leg of the pick six. Los Alamitos is the final Southern California refuge for bettors who prefer the traditional pick six over the single-ticket jackpot scheme adopted by Santa Anita and Del Mar.

Payoffs in the $2 pick six at Los Alamitos are distributed with 70 percent of the net pool to tickets with six of six winners, and 30 percent to consolation payoffs. If there are no perfect tickets, the 70 percent provision carries to the next day.

In addition to the pick six, the track offers a 50-cent, 14 percent takeout pick five on the first five races. A pair of $1 pick-four wagers (23.68 percent takeout) covers races 2-5, and the final four races.

The most probable winner Friday is the first mount at Los Alamitos for apprentice rider Jessica Pyfer. She rides Richard Mandella-trained class dropper Galloping Mischief, who is expected to start favored in race 2, a $16,000 claiming sprint for non-winners of two.

Galloping Mischief, a gelding by Into Mischief, is the fastest and best horse in the field. While skeptical handicappers might be wary of the class drop, Mandella has won with eight of his last 15 runners dropping for the first time into a claiming race.

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Pyfer also rides the likely favorite in the opening-day feature, Althea Gibson, although she is far from a cinch in race 7. She breaks from the inside post in the 5 1/2-furlong entry-level allowance for California-bred fillies and mares. Ten are entered in the body of the race, with two others on the also-eligible list.

Phil D’Amato trains Althea Gibson, fourth by a length last out in a turf sprint stakes. The surface switch is not an issue for Althea Gibson, who began her career with a pair of second-place finishes in maiden races on dirt.

“She trained the first year of her life at Los Alamitos, and she’s run really good races on the dirt,” D’Amato said. “She can kind of do everything.”

Pyfer, D’Amato’s stepdaughter, will be riding Althea Gibson for the first time in a race, but she knows the filly well.

“Jessica’s been her regular breeze rider the past couple months, so she knows her inside and out,” D’Amato said. “I’m just going to give her a leg up and tell her to give me a clean trip.”

Althea Gibson’s rivals include also-eligible Ana Lisa; Shylock Eddie, a longshot contender from the outside; Felony One, a speedster from Golden Gate; and Hot On the Trail, a horse-for-course who is 2 for 2 at Los Alamitos.

First post at Los Alamitos is 1 p.m. on weekdays, 12:30 on weekends.