Los Angeles County Fair meet begins next week at Los Alamitos

Three stakes worth a combined $425,000 highlight the 2023 Los Angeles County Fair meet at Los Alamitos.

The nine-day season will begin Friday, June 23, and continue through Sunday, July 9. Racing will be conducted Friday-Sunday the first week, Saturday-Tuesday the middle week and Saturday-Sunday the final weekend. Post time will be 4 p.m. EDT.

The richest of the stakes races is the Grade 2, $200,000-guaranteed Great Lady M. Stakes. The race at 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, will be offered Tuesday, July 4.

The initial stakes of the season is the $100,000 Bertrando for 3-year-olds and up bred or sired in California. The one-mile race will be run June 24.

The other stakes event is the $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles. The Derby will be run July 8.

The wagering menu includes a pair of $1 Pick 4s on races 2-5 and the final four races along with a $2 Pick Six as well as the Players’ Pick 5 – a 50-cent minimum bet with a reduced takeout rate of 14 percnet – on the first five races.

The Pick Six will have the standard 70-30 split with 70 percent of the pool going to those tickets with six winners with the remaining 30 percent going to tickets with five of six winners.

There will also be a handicapping contest Saturday, July 8, and the Los Alamitos Racing Association will offer a cash prize and a pair of berths in the 2024 National Thoroughbred Racing Association Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas.

Cost to enter is $500. Of that amount, $100 will be placed in the contest prize pool with the remaining $400 going toward a live-money wagering card.

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

The player with the highest bankroll at the end of the day will be declared the winner, and the player with the second-highest bankroll will be the runner-up.

The winner will receive 50 percent of the prize pool. The remaining payoffs: 20 percent for second place), 15 for third place, 7.5 percent for fourth place and 7.5 percent for most money wagered.

Entries for opening day of the Los Angeles County Fair meet will be taken next Tuesday.