Racing! Happy Fourth of July

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we preview a special holiday card at Los Alamitos.

First up, thanks to all of you who have emailed me but didn’t get a response. You need to remember that if you just hit reply, it goes to an unmonitored mailbox that I don’t see. Every once in a while someone goes in and cleans it out and I’m told there were about 50 dating back to the Belmont Stakes. So, if you wondered why I didn’t answer, it’s because I didn’t see them.

You can always get me at [email protected].

Some thanks

Big thumbs up to those of you who offered tips about my trip to Jekyll Island, including restaurants to eat at. And, of course, a huge thank you to Eric (Manny) Sondheimer, who did the Monday newsletter for me.

Golden Gate update

Mike Marten, the ever vigilant chief press officer of the California Horse Racing Board, had this to report on the dispute between the Stronach Group and satellite wagering facilities. Stronach racing boss Tim Ritvo has said he will shutter Golden Gate Fields if he doesn’t get concessions from Northern California off-track wagering facilities.

Here’s Marten’s news release.

“The California Horse Racing Board has not received from Pacific Racing Association all of the agreements with satellite wagering facilities in Northern California and the horsemen’s agreement with the Thoroughbred Owners of California, all required as a condition of licensure for the race meet at Golden Gate Fields scheduled to open Aug. 23. However, the parties have advised the CHRB of significant progress towards that goal. This matter will be on the agenda for the July 12 meeting of the Board at Los Alamitos Race Course.”

Los Alamitos thoroughbred preview

Los Alamitos has a special July 4^th card on Wednesday, starting at 1 p.m. There will be no racing on Thursday, resuming on Friday. First post is 1 p.m.

The highlight of the nine-race card is te $100,000 Bertrando Stakes for Cal-breds going a mile. The purse is $100,000 and is one of three stakes races in the three-week meeting.

The two favorites are, shall we say, real veteran performers. Magic Mark, at 5-2, is 8 years old and Soi Phet, at 3-1, is 10. They will probably be chatting in the paddock of when their trainers had beepers and used pay phones. The race should go at about 4:30 p.m.

Magic Mark won this race in 2015 and finished second in the race last year. Then he had a lot of time off (a cruise perhaps?) and didn’t race for 10 months until finishing second in an allowance at Santa Anita this year on May 24.

Soi Phet is coming off a big-price win in the Crystal Water Stakes at Santa Anita on May 20 and has won four of his eight starts at Los Alamitos.

The ninth race is an allowance and is worth mentioning because three of the horses running are Catfish Hunter, Joe Jackson and Junior Gilliam. If I have to explain, it’s not worth your interest.

The field sizes—at least the early races--are on the light side, but here they are, in order: 6, 6, 6, 7, 6, 7, 10, 9, 11.

Jose Contreras LRC pick of the day

FIRST RACE: No.1 Latitude (3-1)

He chased the pace through the first half mile and then weakened to sixth in this most recent start against $40,000 maidens at Santa Anita going a mile. He now takes a drop in class, cuts back in distance, switches to the Jerry Hollendorfer barn and arrives with almost a month off since his last race. He also picks up an apprentice jockey that has been doing well in the first week of the season. I like the spacing of the workouts leading up to this race including the latest bullet 5-furlong workout from the gate over this track.

Sunday’s result: Queen Shelly Ann was very unlucky, hitting the side of the gate, then swerving in with her jockey losing the left iron until near the 5/8ths mark. She finished sixth.

Jose Contreras is an excellent handicapper and well known on social media and familiar to racing fans watching on TVG. You can follow him on twitter at @losponies or check him out at his website.

Final thought

Yes, we’re trying to grow he newsletter, even on a holiday. You can’t beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you don’t like it, then you’re probably not reading this. Either way, send to a friend and just have them click here and sign up. Remember, it’s free, and all we need is your email, nothing more.

Any thoughts, drop me an email at my new address [email protected] or feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa

Now, the star of the show, Wednesday’s entries.