Total handle jumps during fall Los Alamitos Thoroughbred meet

Handle increased more than 22 percent at the two-week daytime Thoroughbred autumn meeting at Los Alamitos that ended on Sunday compared to the corresponding season in 2024, according to figures compiled by Daily Racing Form.

Total handle on races run at Los Alamitos was $17,492,588, significantly higher than $14,307,104 at the 2024 autumn meeting. Both meetings had six days of racing. Handle on races run at the 2023 autumn meeting was more than $17.7 million.

This year’s meeting had 53 races, one more than in 2024, and paid out $1,927,000 in purses, compared to $1,838,500 at the 2024 meeting.

Part of the increase in handle this year can be attributed to larger fields. The meeting averaged 7.32 runners per race compared to 6.55 runners per race in 2024. Fields averaged 6.72 runners in 2023.

On the track, Doug O’Neill led all trainers with six wins, two more than Bob Baffert. O’Neill has won or tied for the lead at a Los Alamitos Thoroughbred meeting 12 times since the track began daytime meetings in 2014.

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Los Alamitos had brief meetings in the summer and in September this year. For the entire year, O’Neill led all trainers at Los Alamitos with 15 wins, four more than Steve Knapp.

Jockeys Armando Ayuso, Juan Hernande,z and Kazushi Kimura finished in a tie for first with six wins this fall.

Kimura led or shared the title at all three meetings at Los Alamitos this year. He won 22 races at Los Alamitos in 2025, six more than Kyle Frey.

Santa Anita begins its winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26 and will race through June 14. Los Alamitos is scheduled to run its first of three Thoroughbred meeting next year from June 19 to July 5.

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