Bertrando Stakes kicks off Los Angeles County Fair meet

The first of three daytime Thoroughbred meets this year at Los Alamitos will begin Saturday.

The eight-day Los Angeles County Fair season will continue through Sunday, July 7. Racing will be conducted Saturday-Sunday, June 22-23 and June 29-30, the first two weeks and Thursday-Saturday, July 4-7, the final week Post time is 4 p.m. EDT.

The highlight of the meet will be the Grade 2, $200,000-guaranteed Great Lady M. Stakes. The 6 1/2-furlong event for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, will be run Saturday, July 6.

The other two stakes to be run are the $100,000-guaranteed Bertrando for 3-year-olds and up bred or sired in California and the $125,000 guaranteed Los Alamitos Derby. The one-mile Bertrando is the main event on opening day, and the Los Alamitos Derby, which is contested at 1 1/8 miles, will be run Saturday, June 29.

The wagering menu includes the $2 Pick Six, with the traditional 70-30 split; a pair of $1 Pick 4s for races 2-5 and the final four races; and the Players’ Pick 5, a 50-cent minimum wager with a reduced 14 percent takeout rate offered on the first five races.

The Los Alamitos Racing Association will seed the Pick Six with $10,000 Saturday, June 29, and Saturday, July 6, provided there is no carryover.

There will also be a handicapping contest Saturday, July 6. The LARA will offer a cash prize and a pair of berths to the 2025 National Thoroughbred Racing Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas. The cost to enter is $500. Of that amount, $100 will be placed in the contest prize pool with the remaining $400 going towards a live money wagering card.

Tournament races will include the entire Los Alamitos card. Permitted wagers are win, place, show, exactas, trifectas and daily doubles. Each entry must bet at least $50 on a minimum of four races, but there is no wagering limit.

Owner-breeder Nick Alexander and trainer Steve Miyadi, who combined to win the Bertrando with Desmond Doss in 2021 and 2022, will have two representatives in the 11th renewal of the race Saturday.

Lovesick Blues and Tom Horn, both winners over the local surface, are among six who were entered Tuesday.

A 6-year-old gelded son of Grazen and the Ministers Wild Cat mare Queenofthecastle, Lovesick Blues has won seven of 24 and banked $411,500.

He’s never been worse than third in five starts at Los Alamitos, including an easy win in an optional claimer Sept. 25, 2022 and a runner-up effort behind Kings River Knight in this race a year ago.

A winner June 9 at Santa Anita, Tom Horn, a 4-year-old Grazen colt out of the Tribal Rule mare Miranda Rose, is 4-for-9 with earnings of $146,460. He broke his maiden by four lengths vs. $50,000 state breds during the 2023 LACF season. The Bertrando will mark his first start beyond 6 1/2 furlongs.