Today at Los Alamitos: July 13, 2014

TODAY AT LOS ALAMITOS by Richard Eng

Post Time 2 p.m.

Race 1 - 6 furlongs, Purse $17,000, Claiming $16,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

1 Brandon’s Princess - Claimed by Michael Pender off a game second in last; has cashed 7-of-9 paychecks showing good consistency.

2 Nikki Allyn - Broke her maiden for Peter Miller last out; it was at the bottom of the barrel, but this entire field isn’t much either.

Long Shot - 3 Skyrose

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

7 Swiss Heart - Thought she was finally going to win last time; got boxed in behind horses but surged fast late.

1 Getaway Keys - Speed and the rail, we’ll see how far she lasts; should get some value as Joe Steiner is capable, but never gets bet.

Long Shot - 2 Afleet Echo

Race 3 - 6 furlongs, $100,000 W. L. Proctor Memorial, 2-year-olds

1 Bad Read Sanchez - Key vote for me is Mario Gutierrez had options on Doug O’Neill uncoupled entry; still this is a shoe horn race.

2 Wake Up Nick - There is not much separating this entire field, front to back; was dead game in Santa Anita Juvenile victory.

Long Shot - 4 Story to Tell

Race 4 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $17,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

5 Triunfo - He’s already had a few chances at the bottom class rung; his last effort came here when speed was not holding on well at all.

1 Best Ransom - Interesting price play from trainer Chuck Treece; Ramon Guce likes to put them on the lead, see how far they last.

Long Shot - 3 Yodeling Honey

Race 5 - 1 mile, Purse $46,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

4 Fleet of Gold - Gets class relief from the grade 2 Summer Oaks for this; nice rider switch to Joe Talamo who should fit her well.

5 Melanistic - Key vote here is the hot nature of the Richard Baltas barn; everything he sends out has been improving.

Long Shot - 3 Sweet Tess

Race 6 - 6 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

4 Princesskatiebella - Sliding down the maiden claiming ladder to this new low; adding blinkers on, from the sharp Tom Bell barn.

3 Covey - FTS from Ron Ellis who hasn’t started many this meet, but they have all run well; watch the tote board for additional clues.

Long Shot - 6 Lana Caprina

Race 7 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $42,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 2-year-olds

2 So You Say - Hard to go against Bob Baffert with another expensive baby; key is his real good ones will start surfacing at Del Mar.

5 Sharla Rae - FTS from the hot Doug O’Neill barn; he has multiples in the baby stakes and likely more along the way.

Long Shot - 3 City Ride

Race 8 - 6 furlongs, $100,000 Cinderella, Fillies, 2-year-olds

2 Heart of Paradise - Very impressive debut winner from Jerry Hollendorfer; Mike Smith takes over for Corey Nakatani.

4 Shh She’s Ours - Iggy Puglisi put this one on the engine in debut and never looked back; suspect a similar strategy tonight.

Long Shot - 3 La Grange

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

5 Surfing Angel - This field is so muddled I chose two FTS on top; won’t need to be much to beat the ones with experience.

9 Weekendwithbernie - Suspect you remember this 1980s era movie; nice connections of Mike Pupye and Joe Talamo, love Talamo in the finale.

Long Shot - 7 Takeit Tothe Limit

Best Bet - 2 Heart of Paradise (race 8)

Los Alamitos Saturday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 15/2/$6.20; Long Shots, 6/2/$16.80; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Los Alamitos Totals - 115/25/$139.40; Long Shots, 55/12/$157.40; Best Bets, 7/2/$7.20

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #7 Mr. Masterpiece (6/1) in race 6 at Belmont Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Hardest Core won at Delaware Park paying $7.00 to win, $5.00 to place and $3.40 to show. Stats - 106/65/$618.20; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick