$50,000 claimer highlights the card at Los Alamitos

The week of racing at Los Alamitos Race Course begins with a nine-race card on this Friday night of racing. Rain has hit the Southern California area almost the entire day and with that, the track is currently listed as wet fast.

From previous runnings over wet conditions at Los Al, the Thoroughbred events seem to be dominated by early speed and that is why my key play will be my single in the first race of the night. I am singling #1 Deer Creek who has shown enough speed in past efforts to be close to the lead. This filly, who is a maiden, was running against winners last out at a much higher level and now drops to the level in which she ran a good second. In that December 16th effort, she broke good and showed enough pace to earn second place. The morning line favorite #3 Joyfull Julia ran a good second in her first start locally when closing late. Looking for Deer Creek to get a good break, get the lead early and control the pace.

Tonight's feature race is a $50,000 claiming event (Race 8) that has a good field of six entrants sprinting three hundred yards. Two runners, #2 Check Rosie Out and #6 Pepe El Trueno, are coming off of long layoffs but have shown ability in past efforts that make them competitive here. In this field there is also two runners that recently ran in graded stakes: #1 Tac Out and #3 Touch of Paso. Their class might prove to be the edge.

The weekend of racing will be showcasing some great racing with trials to the GI Los Alamitos Winter Derby to be run on Saturday and trials to the GI Los Alamitos Winter Championship to be run on Sunday. Don't miss it.

In the Thoroughbred space, the road to the Kentucky Derby continues with the GIII $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes tomorrow at Gulfstream Park. Will Shanghai Bobby and Rosie Napravnik remain undefeated? Tune in!

Also, Santa Anita Park has a great 10-race card tomorrow that features six stakes races worth a total of over $1.1 Million Dollars. I am not missing that!

Let's warm up by tackling the Los Alamitos card tonight:

Race 1:  1-3-2
Race 2:  5-2-1
Race 3:  1-2-3
Race 4:  6-7-3
Race 5:  1-4-5
Race 6:  5-1-2
Race 7:  1-2-5
Race 8:  3-4-6
Race 9:  3-6-2

My Plays:

Race 1 - $1 Early Pick Four ($18):  1 / 1,2,5 / 1,2 / 3,6,7

Race 6 - $1 Late Pick Four ($16):  5 / 1 / 3,4,5,6 / 1,2,3,6

Good Luck!

As always, I will also be tweeting: @LosPonies