"OS Alamitos's loyalty and dedication to its longstanding relationship with Quarter Horses is still very much intact. The old format will continue with business as usual, racing both Quarter Horses and lower-tier Thoroughbreds at night. Jumping in with both feet, Los Alamitos Racing Association offers two Grade 1 races along with a Grade 2 race. The first, the Los Alamitos Derby-G2, will have a guaranteed purse of $500,000 and is scheduled to run on July 5, 2014, during the inaugural meet. The Grade 1 Starlet, with a guaranteed purse of $350,000, will run on December 13, 2014, and the $500,000-guaranteed Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity on December 20, 2014. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ""Enthusiasm is the mother of effort and without it, nothing great was ever achieved."" There can be no doubt about Los Alamitos's owner Dr. Ed Allred's enthusiasm for the sport of horseracing. The effort and expense associated with the expansion of Los Alamitos from five-eighths of a mile to just short of one mile and the construction of additional stabling on prime Orange County real estate speaks for itself. Dr. Allred said, ""This is something we've been working on for a long time and once we got the dates approved by the CHRB (California Horse Racing Board), I think people were surprised at how quickly we got things done."" The City of Cypress approved the expansion project on December 10 and the track was open and ready for training on January 21. Ed Allred went to the races at Los Alamitos for the first time in 1956. The Daily Racing Form showed horses owned by Allred Brothers were racing that day. They were no relation to him but it proved to be a good day for the racing game. Doc Allred was hooked! He and his good friend Tom Seibly (a retired judge and a current Los Alamitos board member) went to the Orange County oval at every opportunity. As time went on and circumstances allowed, Doc bought his first racehorse, Beowawe. He also bought an interest in a filly named Punch Time who had little success while racing, but produced some runners and, significantly, created an interest in breeding horses. Doc became a leading breeder and owner of running Quarter Horses and when the chance to acquire full ownership of Los Alamitos presented itself in 1998, Doc stepped up and took it. Plans to expand the racetrack at Los Alamitos have been in the works since Hollywood Park made it known they were closing their doors. The original plan to enlarge the track called for a lengthening of the track to extend the distance but the turns would have been exceptionally tight due to limits of available land. Trainers were reluctant to embrace this design, believing that tight turns would be very hard on their horses. Undaunted, Dr. Allred and his team soccer field for the backside employees as well as a lake, palm trees and gardens. The homestretch is 1,380 feet long and 110 feet wide. It is 34 feet longer than the homestretch at Fair Grounds which was formerly the longest homestretch in American racing. Los Alamitos has been a proving ground for some of America's leading trainers. D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert both trained at Los Alamitos before moving up to the highest levels of Thoroughbred racing. During the day, Los Alamitos operates as a satellite wagering facility and in that capacity, out-handles all other satellite wagering facilities in California. During last year's Kentucky Derby – the biggest day in American Racing – Los Alamitos handled $1.9 million to Santa Anita's $1.78 million. Location, location, location! The realtor's mantra is particularly appropriate regarding Los Alamitos Racecourse. There are more attractions in Orange County than there are in most states. From the well-known theme parks of Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm to the Southern California Wine Country and 42 miles of uninterrupted beaches, this part of the state is a vacation destination and provides an ideal opportunity to expand the fan base of Thoroughbred racing in California. Dr. Allred demonstrated uncommon dedication to the racing community when, in 2005, he formed Finish Line Self Insurance Group (FLSIG). Many of the trainers at Los Alamitos were experiencing unsustainable Worker's Compensation costs. To continue racing and training at Los Alamitos, he created an insurance plan that allowed trainers to pay on a horse-by-horse basis. Thoroughbred trainers throughout the state were experiencing the same difficulties and on July 1, 2011, FLSIG invited all California Thoroughbred trainers to join. This allowed many small stables to continue to race and train and keep their livelihoods. With the closure of Hollywood Park, Los Alamitos has become an official auxiliary stabling site for training Thoroughbred horses. Among the horses currently training at Los Alamitos is Santa Anita Derby winner and likely Kentucky Derby favorite, California Chrome. The son of Lucky Pulpit has been training at Los Alamitos since it reopened after the renovation and Art Sherman, his trainer, said, ""The track surface at Los Alamitos is as good a racetrack as you will find anywhere in the country. It is a wide, big racetrack and it will make for a beautiful track to race on."" The addition of Los Alamitos to the California Thoroughbred racing community is just what the doctor ordered! n Dr. Ed Allred (above left) with Art Sherman, trainer of Kentucky Derby favorite California Chrome (above), seen on track at Los Alamitos w went back to the drawing board and with the help of a friend and co-owner of adjacent property, found a way to redesign the track with wider turns. Satisfied with the new plans, both the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the California Thoroughbred Trainers signed on. The old guard and the newcomers are equally pleased with the stabling and training arrangements at Los Alamitos. There is a wide, deep dirt path from the barn area to the track and the track itself is spacious enough to accommodate the horse traffic with no crowding or imposition at all. The track surface has a fluffy look even from the grandstand and horses gallop by soundlessly and comfortably. The infield of the original track has a lake, palm trees, and gardens. The landscaping within the new infield portion of the track will include a"
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