LOS ALAMITOS : El Dante Expected to Set the Pace Over Tough Field of 6

The York Creek Farm’s El Dante will be shooting for his sixth win of the year when he takes on a tough field of six in the $5,600 conditioned pace feature Tuesday night at Los Alamitos.

Pacers eligible for the Tuesday night main event are those classified B-3 by Fred Kuebler, director of racing, and Ron Goldman, racing secretary.

The wide-open affair will give El Dante a good chance at posting back-to-back wins even though he will be stepping up in class. Happy Time Boy appears the major threat, with Two Oceans and Jolly Monterey rounding out the main contention.

The field, in post position order, are: Jolly Monterey, Gene Vallandingham in the race bike; Two Oceans, Rick Kuebler; Finest Hour, Ross Croghan; Looks Like Trouble, Ed Hensley; Happy Time Boy, Joe Anderson; Mount Hutt, Todd Ratchford, and El Dante, Steve Desomer.

Trained by Ray Richmond, El Dante came back to the races in fine style one week ago with an impressive neck tally over C-1 classified opponents. The Cal-bred son of Dante Royal had been away from the races since May 5 at Cal Expo with only one Del Mar qualifier under his belt.

Richmond had the 4-year-old ready for his best, though, and El Dante was up to the task at hand. He raced first over the length of the backstretch last Tuesday, then kept going through the lane to post the score in the moderate clocking of 2:01.

What was impressive about El Dante’s performance was that the veteran had to keep going through the lane while racing into a stiff wind. His final quarter that night was a very respectable :29 4/5.

He will start from the No. 7 hole against a tougher bunch Tuesday, but the feeling here is that El Dante can handle them. Desomer, his regular driver, will be at the controls.

Happy Time Boy is one of the mystery horses in the race; the Pete Foley trainee has been on the sidelines since June 23 at Cal Expo. He came back to qualify locally on Nov. 29, but he may not be primed for his best effort. The son of Levity, who has lifetime earnings of more than $25,000, had tough competition earlier in the year.

Jolly Monterey and Two Oceans were last seen chasing the highly impressive Darkan Prince last Thursday night. Both veterans did their best in the lane to get third and fourth, respectively, while never a threat to the sizzling winner, who stopped the clock in 1:57.

Neither has been able to put home a winning effort this year, but both have drawn well and get a good opportunity here to win.

The feature is the eighth race on the 10-race program.