Red-hot Oh La Traffic closes year in Holiday Handicap

After a 2-year-old campaign of 3 wins in 10 starts, Oh La Traffic has earned a winter vacation. There is one more objective to achieve before then – another stakes win, and he’ll get his chance in Saturday’s $20,000 Holiday Handicap at Los Alamitos.

With minimal major stakes opportunities in coming months, owner Stan Young and trainer Bret Vickery said they plan to rest Oh La Traffic in the first half of 2011 and race her in the summer and fall.

In the Holiday Handicap, she will attempt to win her fourth consecutive race and third consecutive stakes. The recent success is a change from her form in the spring and summer, when she was winless in seven starts in Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and California.

“When this filly got good, she really got good,” Vickery said. “She ran really green early in her career. I think we’ll run her in this race and give her some time off.”

Oh La Traffic won the Wild West Futurity over 350 yards and the Corona Chick Handicap over 400 yards in the fall. The Holiday Handicap is run over 350 yards, and Oh La Traffic is the only filly in a field of 10.

The Holiday Handicap is the feature on the opening night of the 2011 season. The field includes More Than You Know, who was the fastest qualifier for the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity on Dec. 10 but was last of 10 in the final after a poor start.

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Los Alamitos released its 2011 stakes schedule Wednesday, and the calendar is similar to previous years, with three seven-figure futurities, one seven-figure derby, and the $750,000 Champion of Champions on Dec. 10.

The three seven-figure futurities are the $1 million Ed Burke on June 25, the $1 million Golden State Million on Oct. 28, and the Los Alamitos Two Million on Dec. 9. The $1 million Super Derby will be run Nov. 5.

The track also is hosting the American Quarter Horse Association’s Racing Challenge series Oct. 29, with five stakes worth $125,000 or more. The richest race on that program is the $350,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship for older horses.

The first major event on the schedule is the $100,000 Charger Bar Handicap over 400 yards for fillies and mares Jan. 8.