Santa Anita carries the weight of California racing, running well over half of the circuit’s race dates.
The Great Race Place takes a few weeks off, in favor of a three week meet at Los Alamitos, located in Cypress. In the most horse racing way possible, this is the L.A. County Meet - and held in Orange County. Again, only in horse racing. We’ll head to Del Mar in July.
Santa Anita enjoyed a resurgence this past meet, and much of it to do with a consolidation of the California circuit. With the closing of Golden Gate Fields and the Fair Circuit in the northern part of the state, Santa Anita benefited from an influx of horses which pushed the limits of the barns onsite.
Los Alamitos is a rare course in California, as it only has a dirt course. So much of the best racing in California is on the grass, so the three weeks in Cypress are a bit of a horse racing culture shock. Worth noting: many turf horses perform well over the Los Alamitos dirt, so don’t be too quick to toss them out of your wagers.
The Bertrando Stakes, a 1-mile race for male horses, highlights the Saturday card. It’s for Cal-breds, or horses that were bred in California. Let’s meet the field, and put together a wager.
Bertrando Stakes. 1 mile, dirt. Cal-breds 3+up. $100,000.
1. Barely Funtional. 15/1. Jockey: Ricardo Gonzalez. Trainer: Antonio Garcia.
Barely Funtional is off to a tough start in 2025, with one third place finish his best showing in four races. The good news: his last win was right here at Los Al, also going a mile. He’s far from the best in this group, but could be considered for exacta and trifecta plays.
Comment: toss.
2. Freeport Joe. 20/1. Jockey: Assael Espinoza. Trainer: Gloria Haley.
Freeport Joe is one of my favorite California horses, enjoying success earlier in his career, largely at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California. He’s a graded stakes winner, earning over $350,000 in his career. The bad news: he hasn’t won since January of 2023. He’s still a willing runner, and likes the morning works; but his best days are long past.
Comment: toss.
3. Rodrigoknows. 10/1. Jockey: Kyle Frey. Trainer: Alfredo Marquez.
Rodrigoknows is a lower-level claiming horse, running overwhelmingly in turf races. His last time trying Los Alamitos he ran a good second in an optional claimer, but this group is considerably stronger. He does have three third-place finishes in five starts this year, but I don’t even consider him a candidate for second.
Comment: toss.
4. Cowboy Mike. 8/1. Jockey: Armando Ayuso. Trainer: Tim Yakteen.
Cowboy Mike has shown flashes at this distance, winning four of 12 starts at a mile. While in the Baffert barn, he ran second and first at the outset of the year; he ran fourth in this race last year. If he can return to the form from earlier this year, he can get a good check here; at no point in his career has he looked like a stakes winner.
Comment: include in exactas and trifectas.
5. Royal ‘n Rando. 20/1. Jockey: Kazushi Kimura. Trainer: Mike Puype.
Royal ‘n Rando has won six times in his career, with only one of those coming on a dirt surface. He entered the Puype barn last year, and his move to the dirt has been nothing short of disastrous since then. His last win? An allowance in 2022 at Golden Gate. First toss in this one.
Comment: first toss.
6. Mr. Disrespectful. 4/1. Jockey: Hector Berrios. Trainer: Martin Valenzuela, Jr.
Mr. Disrespectful has had a great start to 2025, with two wins and two seconds in his last four races. Given that he was off for all of 2024, trainer Martin Valenzuela, Jr. deserves a ton of respect for his development of this 5-year-old son of Smiling Tiger. Valenzeula, Jr. and Berrios are hitting at 31% together in recent races; if anyone is going to upset the favorite, it’s him.
Comment: second-best.
7. Kings River Knight. 2/5. Jockey: Juan Hernandez. Trainer: John Sadler.
Kings River Knight is amongst the finest Cal-breds in recent history, trailing only The Chosen Vron in earnings and prestige. He’s won 11 of his 18 starts, and if you remove his two starts on synthetic, he’s won 68% of his races. He has two wins and a second on dirt, with his only loss coming in his first career race in 2023. He won this race in 2023 before his connections turned his attention to turf, but the move from turf to Los Alamitos’ dirt course shouldn’t bother him.
Comment: winner.
The Sporting Tribune Wager:
$1 Late Pick 4, starts race 6 ($50): 8,9 / 2,5,6,7,8 / 7 / 1,2,3,5,9.