Horse Racing: Today at Los Alamitos, Sept. 20

TODAY AT LOS ALAMITOS by Richard Eng

Post Time 2 p.m.

Race 1 - 1 mile, Purse $17,000, Claiming $16,000, 3-year-olds and up

4 Counting Days - Like to see Joe Talamo riding at Los Alamitos; he wouldn’t be here except to ride live ones in advance of Santa Anita.

1 Harlington Nights - Raised double the price tag off a sharp win for $8K; has back class where he should be handle this.

Long Shot - 9 Fly Blue

Race 2 - 7 furlongs, Purse $27,000, Starter allowance $25,000, 3-year-olds and up

6 Senor Rain - The key for me is his race two back winning at Los Alamitos; clearly we could see a Joe Talamo daily double.

3 Ezio - Poor start in last doomed his chances; his prior races are good and Vann Belvoir legs up main man Rafael Bejarano.

Long Shot - 4 Dewrag

Race 3 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $20,000, Claiming $16,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

3 Whodoo Pirate - Woke up in last when dropped back down to this $16K class; can win on the lead or sitting just off of it.

2 Runningwiththelute - Graduating for a price tag in last; facing winners for the first time is a big step up in class.

Long Shot - 6 Natal

Race 4 - 6 furlongs, Purse $46,000, Optional claiming $80,000, Fillies, 2-year-olds

3 Wedding Blush - Ed Moger is a very underrated trainer; when he teams up with Rafael Bejarano, they are especially lethal.

2 Stealth Dome - Was overmatched in the grade 1 Del Mar Debutante off the claim by Doug O’Neill; much more realistic spot tonight.

Long Shot -

Race 5 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $42,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, 2-year-olds

5 Roper - Did everything but win last time in a much improved effort; skipped Del Mar for this, just needs one step of improvement.

2 Smooven Square - Spit the bit in debut after a quick start; Doug O’Neill adding blinkers on for more cheese and speed.

Long Shot - 6 Kluszewski

Race 6 - 1 mile, Purse $46,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

1 Room for Me - A. C. Avila barn has had a renaissance of late; draw a line thru her turf races and the rest look fine.

3 Melanistic - Figures to sit back and make one run; William Antongeorgi shows he can win when he has a fast enough horse.

Long Shot - 6 Prettypriceygirl

Race 7 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $50,000, Optional claiming $62,500, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

8 Senza Fina - Tiny edge in a wide open affair; the outside parking lot posts have proven better in Los Alamitos sprints.

6 My Sweet Addiction - Logical chalk gets class relief from the Desert Storm at Santa Anita; has always been highly regarded.

Long Shot - 3 Popalicious

Race 8 - 6 furlongs, $75,000 Katella, 3-year-olds and up

6 Seeking the Sherif - The key to the race is how he’ll put up with Distinctiv Passion, another speedball; one needs to take back.

5 Distinctiv Passion - Returns off a 10-month hiatus; has tremendous early speed so I expect Rafael Bejarano to send to the front.

Long Shot - 3 Spirit Rules

Race 9 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $17,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

9 Rainbow North - Showed big improvement in his second career start; switches to Edwin Maldonado who is riding very well this meet.

1 Pioneer Charlie - Was bet big time in SoCal debut; he did a classic pop and stop, then got claimed by Jack Carava.

Long Shot - 6 Uncle Luck

Best Bet - 1 Room for Me (race 6)

Los Alamitos Friday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 15/4/$24.60; Long Shots, 7/2/$14.80; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Los Alamitos Totals - 139/41/$263.80; Long Shots, 69/13/$118.00; Best Bets, 8/2/$7.40

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #7 Funny Money (15/1) in race 7 at Belmont Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Helm ran out at Belmont Park. Stats - 146/85/$805.30; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick