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Five Stakes Worth $400,000 Highlight Los Angeles County Fair Meet At Los Al

Five stakes worth a combined $400,000 highlight the 2021 Los Angeles County Fair meet at Los Alamitos.

The 10-day season will begin Friday, Sept. 10 and continue through Sunday, Sept. 26. Racing will be conducted Friday-Sunday the first two weeks (Sept. 10-12 and Sept. 17-19) and Thursday-Sunday (Sept. 23-26) the final four days. Post time will be 1 p.m.

The richest of the stakes races is the $100,000 Los Alamitos Special. The race at 1 1/16 miles – it was run previously (2018-2019) at 1 ¼ miles – will be offered Sunday, Sept. 19.

The initial stakes of the season is the $75,000 Beverly J. Lewis for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs. The Lewis will be run Saturday, Sept. 11.

There are two stakes events for 2-year-olds. The $75,000 Capote will be run Saturday, Sept. 18 while the $75,000 Phone Chatter for fillies will be contested Saturday, Sept. 25. Both races are at 6 ½ furlongs.

Completing the schedule is the $75,000 E.B. Johnston for 3-year-olds & up bred or sired in California. The race at one mile will be run Sunday, Sept. 12.

Grandstand admission is $3 and $2 for seniors 62 and older. Admission to Burgart's is $5 and Vessels Club is $10. Tickets can also be purchased online at http://losalamitos.com/. Los Alamitos offers free general parking. Preferred parking is $5.

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

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

There will also be a handicapping contest Saturday, Sept. 18 and the Los Alamitos Racing Association will offer a cash prize and a pair of berths in the 2022 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 towards a live money wagering card.

Tournament races will include the entire card at Los Alamitos with permitted wagers including 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% of the prize pool. The remaining payoffs: 20% (2nd place), 15% (3rd place), 7.5 % (4th place) and 7.5% (Most Money Wagered).

Entries for opening day of the LACF meet will be taken Tuesday, Sept. 7.

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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Steeplechasers Have Started Brion’s Career With A Bang, But She Has Eyes On The Flat Too

A week after her resounding success in the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard Handicap at Saratoga, trainer Keri Brion said the result still hadn't fully sunk in. Brion saddled four runners in the race, and trained all of the trifecta, led by The Mean Queen (IRE) and rounded out by Baltimore Bucko (GB) and French Light (FR).

“I didn't really allow myself to even start thinking about it,” said Brion. “A lot of people were saying it to me, but to be honest I just hoped one of them could get it done. I knew the pressure was on – on paper, mine were the ones to beat. It wasn't until the eighth pole I started yelling for French Light, 'Get up there!' to be third.”

The accomplishment was fitting, since Brion served as assistant trainer to Sheppard for 11 years and was part of his team for several of his 15 victories in the race, formerly known as the New York Turf Writers Cup.

For Brion, the past eight months since going out on her own have been a whirlwind. Brion had taken a string of Sheppard's horses over to Ireland in November 2020 and was still there when she got word in January that Sheppard was retiring. Brion had long hoped to open her own racing stable and had developed good relationships with many of Sheppard's owners, so she had expected at some point she may take the mantle from him but said it happened rather suddenly.

“I always planned to go out on my own, but maybe not in this way,” she said. “But everything happens for a reason, and everything's going pretty good now.”

Now, she is the leading trainer in the National Steeplechase Association standings by earnings and is tied with recent Hall of Fame inductee Jack Fisher for NSA wins. She got her first Grade 1 win in late July when Baltimore Bucko took the G1 A.P. Smithwick Memorial. Her jaunt to Ireland also helped her make history, as she became the first American trainer to win a hurdle race in the country (courtesy of The Mean Queen) and the first to win a National Hunt race in Ireland with Scorpion's Revenge. Brion said the level of competition in Ireland and England for steeplechase horses is considerably higher than in the United States, where there are comparatively few steeplechase horses.

The months spent in Ireland exposed Brion to new training styles to build better fitness and stamina, but also gave her the chance to develop an angle she hopes will bring new owners into the steeplechase scene in the States. Prize money has become a major problem in English and Irish racing, and Brion has found that a mid-level runner there can be tremendously successful in America, where steeplechase purses are much better.

“Obviously, over there jump racing is more prestigious, so they've got that going for them but the guys who are putting a lot of money into the sport don't even break even,” she said. “You can at least break even, maybe make some money here when you do it the right way. I have quite a few people intrigued by it.”

American jump racing is a great outlet for a runner who prefers firm ground, which they don't reliably get in Ireland.

Brion leads The Mean Queen back to the barn after a workout with Tom Garner up

Although steeplechase is most popular in East Coast areas known for all types of equestrian sport, like fox hunting and eventing, Brion said she wish more people understood that it really has more in common with flat racing than cross country.

“I wish the sport did a better job of advocating and teaching people about it because there are quite a few misconceptions about the sport, but it's only because you would have no way to know,” she said. “I think people look at us as a different entity. Flat racing, you look at them as athletes doing a sport. Steeplechase racing, I think people look at it like we're almost show horses which we're not. We're just as competitive as the flat, and there's money to be made in it. It could be supported just as well.”

Brion first came to horses not as a reformed show rider, but as a Thoroughbred fan from the age of 10. She started off working at Sylmar Farm in Christiana, Penn., and learned to gallop at the age of 13. Although she's known for her steeplechase success, Brion said she hopes to build a name for herself in the realm of flat racing also, the way Sheppard did with top runners Informed Decision and Forever Together.

Perhaps contrary to popular belief among flat racing fans, Brion said the training process for a steeplechaser really isn't much different from a flat horse. Hurdlers also don't actually travel much slower than flat horses and need just as strong a closing kick, they just settle over a greater distance first.

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Brion also sees potential in a certain type of flat horse to make a transition over hurdles, and is hopeful she can help more owners see the potential in that type of second career.

“You look for horses – whether they're turf or dirt – that are running long, they're coming late, and just missing,” she said. “Horses that look like they want more ground. I don't mind dirt or turf, either way. You want to see horses that are finishing third or fourth and are galloping out strongly. Every horse jumps, it's just a matter of how good. You can teach them to jump. Even a $10,000 claimer who just runs out of room or is just very one-paced and has a high cruising speed, those are the horses that do well [steeplechasing]. And it's always good to remind owners, horses get their maiden conditions back over jumps.”

Brion aboard Grade 1 winner All The Way Jose

The summer season has been a busy one for Brion, who bases out of Fair Hill. The Fair Hill base is perfect for her program, which allows horses regular turnout and the chance to gallop over rolling hills, but it still means a lot of time on the road. Brion is sending horses to Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania at regular intervals, so her days are long ones. Brion spent some time as a jockey (she was champion apprentice jump jockey in 2017), and still gallops as many of her own string of 30 as she can. This fall will bring more commuting, as there are steeplechase meets every weekend through mid-November. Race days like the G1 Jonathan Sheppard make the long days worth it.

“I have quite a few nice 2-year-olds in my barn, so I'm hoping they will fire and I can get my name out there,” she said. “I've got a bunch of new owners from overseas and I'm looking forward to getting new horses in. My success in Saratoga has really helped me, and I have some exciting new clients.”

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Racing Fans Get Inside Look At Indiana Grand Backstretch Thanks To Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance

Forty horse racing enthusiasts gathered to tour the backside of Indiana Grand Racing & Casino over the weekend. While enjoying free refreshments, guests were treated to an inside look of a horse racing barn and meet two jockeys-turned-actors, thanks to trainer Brandi Steele and the Indiana Thoroughbred Alliance (ITA).

The barn tour was the first of its type at Indiana Grand since 2019, due to biosecurity and security precautions at the Shelbyville track. Visitors were treated to meeting retired jockey Francisco Torres, winner of more than $68.8 million in lifetime earnings, including 12 graded stakes races. Torres played jockey Braulio Baeza in the ESPN movie “Ruffian” in 2007. Now a jockey's agent at Indiana Grand, Torres shared highlights of his career on and off the track and was open to answering questions.

Fellow retired jockey and movie star, Otto Thorwarth was also on hand for visitors to meet. Thorwarth played jockey Ron Turcotte in the 2010 Disney movie “Secretariat” and returned to Indiana Grand to later become chaplain.

Other speakers included Michael Mann, DVM, track veterinarian at Indiana Grand, Steele and Nate Brannin, managing partner of B&B Stables, a fractional ownership group based out of Indiana.

“I just wanted to give others the opportunity to be on the backside to see what all goes into taking care of these horses,” says Brannin, one of the organizers of the event.

“After a year of restrictions and shutdowns, it was so nice to be amongst the horses and sharing the passion of Hoosier horsemen and women with the fans,” says Christine Cagle, board member of the ITA. “We are very thankful to Indiana Grand and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission for allowing us to host this event.”

Participants were able to feed sweet potatoes to the horses in Steele's barn, take photos with the horses and ask questions varying from the daily routine of racehorses and the track vet's role to how they can become more involved in the industry.

“I believe there are a lot of potential racehorse owners out there, but they just don't know how to get involved,” says Brannin. “I hope this helps spark more interest.”

“Before I became a trainer, I never even thought about being in the horse racing industry,” says Steele, who stepped out on her own as a trainer in 2018 and has earned nearly $925,000 so far. “But after attending a backside barn tour like this and seeing what it was like, I fell in love. And here I still am.”

One lucky attendee had their name drawn for a free VIP experience at Cedar Creek Winery, a staunch supporter of Indiana horse racing, where employees are co-owners with Indiana-bred mare Drinkatthecreek with Michael Lauer Racing. The ITA hopes to offer more opportunities like this in the future, as well as continue their education series this fall and winter by offering more webinars and seminars on a variety of horse husbandry topics.

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Justin Mustari, 26, Becomes Youngest-Ever Winner Of National Horseplayers Championship

Justin Mustari of Des Plaines, Ill., topped a field of 563 entries to win the $725,000 first-place prize and an Eclipse Award as Horseplayer of the Year at this weekend's 22nd annual National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment and Bally's Las Vegas. The event was postponed from its usual early February dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic and became a midsummer event for the first time.

The 26-year-old Mustari, who works for his father Frank's insulation contracting company, is the youngest NHC winner. He amassed a winning score of $370.80 over the three-day tournament from 52 mythical $2 Win and Place bets—17 on Friday, 18 on Saturday, 10 in Sunday morning's Semifinal round, and seven at the climactic DraftKings Final Table for the overall top 10.

The contest came down to Race 8 at Del Mar—a one-mile turf allowance/optional claimer for California-breds—with Mustari sitting fourth behind 2014 NHC winner Jose Arias. Mustari chose a 4-year-old filly names Rose's Crystal, who hadn't raced since January.

“I had to give myself a chance to win with this kind of money,” Mustari said. “I definitely didn't like this horse as a top pick but I had to find something in the range that could get me there. I thought this horse coming off the layoff potentially had a chance if he ran back to some earlier numbers, and he did.”

Mustari was the NHC two-day leader at the end of Saturday but lost the lead during the morning's Semifinals round that led to the Final Table. He did not cash in any of the first six mandatory Final Table races.

“I've got to buy a house because I still live with my parents,” he said. “My dad has been the reason I play this game and he taught me everything I know so I have to give a lot of credit to him.”

Arias finished second with $347.20. The Bell Gardens, Calif., resident was seeking to become the event's first two-time winner. However, when the second mandatory race went off, Arias was nowhere to be found. His pick did not appear on the selection screens and it soon became apparent that he had failed to get his selection in before the gates opened. Later, Arias told reporters he had had a personal issue to tend to but would not have landed on the winner of that race anyway. The $200,000 second-place prize pushed Arias's all-time NHC earnings to $956,000, behind only the all-time leader, Michael Beychok ($1,015,300).

The official Top 10, with final bankroll (and prize):

First – Justin Mustari, $370.80, Des Plaines, Ill. ($725,000 + Eclipse Award)

Second – Jose Arias, $347.20, Bell Gardens, Calif. ($200,000)

Third – Chris Goodall, $345.60, Winter Park, Calif. ($150,000)

Fourth – Paul Calia, $339.10, Kansas City, Mo. ($100,000)

Fifth – Sarah Wiener, $297.70, Clearwater, Fla. ($75,000)

Sixth – Brendan Fay, $294.90, Seminole, Fla. ($65,000)

Seventh – Travis Allison, $291.30, Frisco, Texas ($56,000)

Eighth – Jason Phillips, $289.10, Sutherland, Va. ($54,000)

Ninth – Paul Yaffee, $279.30, Evanston, Ill. ($52,000)

Tenth – Jeff VanDrie, $273.30, Carefree, Ariz. ($50,000)

By virtue of his victory, Mustari also earns an exemption into next year's NHC finals and a berth to the 2021 Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge worth $10,000.

The full NHC and Consolation Tournament standings can be accessed at ntra.com.

The NHC was held for the second straight year in the historic Bally's Event Center, which for three days was transformed into the world's largest race book. The next NHC is set for Jan. 28-30, 2022, at Bally's Las Vegas.

The NHC finals awarded cash prizes to 56 players—the top 10 percent of finishers—from a total purse of $2,154,000. An additional $50,000 went to the top 20 in today's Consolation Tournament. Including $367,500 paid out to top finishers in the year-long NHC Tour, NHC Tour travel awards, RTN subscriptions, and the $10,000 Charity Challenge tournament prize, plus $30,000 worth of Breeders' Cup Betting Challenge prizes in the form of entry fees, bankrolls, airfare and hotel, the aggregate value of payouts this weekend in NHC cash and prizes totaled $3,423,552.

To make the Semifinals cut, the 456 NHC entrants were required to place 35 mythical $2 Win and Place wagers—17 on Friday (one less than scheduled due to a weather cancellation) and 18 on Saturday.

DraftKings Final Table participants were relocated to a single table in the middle of the Bally's Event Center that served as NHC headquarters.

Final Table Race Results

Race: Winner ($2 Win, $2 Place), Second ($2 Place)

Monmouth, Race 10: 8-Alta Velocita ($6.20, $4), 10-Jersey Jewel ($9.40)

Saratoga, Race 9: 8-Sifting Sands ($18.80, $9.60), 5-Dreamer's Disease ($12.20)

Saratoga, Race 10: 6-Chulainn ($22.60, $11), 11-Lord Flintshire ($11)

Del Mar, Race 6: 2-Perfectionist ($8.80), 3-Mesut ($6.20)

Del Mar, Race 7: 6-Bella Vita ($4.40, $3.20), 1-Livingmybestlife ($6)

Golden Gate, Race 8: 6-Friday's at Shady ($9.40, $4.40), 3-Pour On the Cole ($6.20)

Del Mar, Race 8: 5-Rose's Crystal ($41.80, $16.40), 4-Warrens Candy Girl ($6.40)

The 2020 NHC Tour winner Sally Goodall, who was eligible for a $2 million bonus if she could top the NHC, had two entries—one finished in 493rd place with a $41.40 bankroll and the second in 598th with $7.

Goodall, a record-tying 19-time NHC qualifier, was inducted in the NHC Hall of Fame at Sunday night's Champions' Dinner, as was Ray Arsenault, the 2017 NHC winner and third all-time NHC money-earner.

Defending NHC champion Thomas Goldsmith advanced to the Semifinals round with both of his entries and finished 18th ($246.80) and 25th ($224.20). He was one of only two players with multiple entries in the Semifinal round.

In a separate Consolation Tournament for players that did not reach the Semifinal round, Vincent Achillare of Convent Station, N.J., won the $10,000 top prize with a bankroll of $96.30 from 10 optional races. The Consolation Tournament started with bankrolls reset to zero. Cash prizes totaling $50,000 were awarded, from the $10,000 first prize down to $1,000 for 20th.

The 2021 NHC was the culmination of 256 qualifying contests held online and at racetracks and OTBs in 2020. From those contests, there were 35,730 entries played in hopes of making it to Bally's Las Vegas.

The National Horseplayers Championship is presented by Racetrack Television Network, Caesars Entertainment and Bally's Las Vegas and sponsored by 1/ST BET, Breeders' Cup, Capitol OTB, Century Bets, Daily Racing Form, Draft Kings, EquinEdge, FanDuel Group, Four Roses Bourbon, Hawthorne Racecourse, Hialeah Park, HorsePlayers.com, HorseTourneys.com, Keeneland, Monmouth Park, NYRA Bets, Roberts Communications, Santa Anita Park, STATS® Race Lens, The Stronach Group, TVG and Xpressbet.

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