Three graded stakes highlight Los Alamitos meet

Los Alamitos on Thursday will launch its three-week winter meeting, a 12-day season that will include three graded stakes.

The meeting, which runs through Dec. 17 on a Thursday-through-Sunday basis, is led by two Grade 1, $300,000 races for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 9 – the CashCall Los Alamitos Futurity and the Starlet Stakes for fillies.

The first graded stakes of the meeting is the Grade 2 Bayakoa Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 3. The race will be at Los Alamitos for the first time since 2014. The Bayakoa was not run in 2015 and was held at Del Mar last year.

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Early nominations for the Bayakoa include It Tiz Well, winner of the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing in September; Champagne Room, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2016; and stakes-placed Pacific Wind.

It Tiz Well was pre-entered for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 3 at Del Mar but was not entered because of a foot ailment. Champagne Room was sixth in the BC Distaff. Pacific Wind was third in two graded stakes on turf at Santa Anita earlier this year.

The Bayakoa must draw six entrants to be contested through an agreement reached earlier this year between the Thoroughbred Owners of California and Los Alamitos.