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Alfieri Reappointed To California Horse Racing Board

Dennis Alfieri, 62, of Pasadena, has been reappointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to the California Horse Racing Board, where he has served since 2018.

Alfieri has been managing member of Mission Real Estate Group since 2005. He was chief executive officer of the Sheriff's Youth Foundation from 2017 to 2020. He was principal and a founding partner at Bantry Property Services LLC from 2005 to 2010 and general partner and founder of Twin Palms Restaurants from 1991 to 2005.

Alfieri is a 40-year member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association and a member of the Pasadena Optimist Club. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Alfieri is a Republican.

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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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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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Claims Not Slowing Down As Del Mar Approaches Closing Day

Through Saturday's Day 25 card of Del Mar's 31-day season, horse claims have not slowed down, notes the lady who takes care of these things, stewards' aide Lucy Vaillancourt.

She reports that there have been 193 total claims realized so far at the session and that's not counting the 31 voided claims that were turned back. All told, those actual claims cost $5,524,000, which means that “the Governor” (aka, the state of California) has realized $483,349 from its 8.75% sales tax.

“And what you've got to realize,” Vaillancourt said, “is that we've had 888 cards 'dropped' (a claim request) so far. There are a lot of folks looking to buy horses this way.”

One of the yardsticks for measuring the claiming activity is the number of “shakes” that are held post-race. That's a situation where more than one horseperson has dropped a request to claim a particular horse, forcing there to be a “shake” (or blind pill pull) to determine the one who becomes the new owner of the horse.

Yesterday, Vaillancourt conducted a 17-way “shake” for the 3-year-old gelding Magic Tiger, who trainer Mike Maker had put in for a $16,000 tag in Race 2. The winner of that pill pull was trainer Jamey Thomas, which is an interesting story all in itself.

Thomas had run Magic Tiger for the same $16,000 tag at Del Mar three weeks earlier on August 7, watched him run third and then go to Maker's barn. Yesterday Thomas took Magic Tiger – who again ran third – back for the same price, after, of course, he had come out on top in that 17-way “shake.”

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