Majority Owner Allred Calls Harness Racing Meet Successful

Edward C. Allred, eagerly awaiting the start of the 1997 quarter horse meet at Los Alamitos Race Course, said he has been pleased with the performance of the track’s harness racing program, which concludes April 6.

Allred, majority owner of the track and the top quarter horse breeder in the nation last year, is staging the 1996-97 winter harness meeting, the first time the track has done so on its own. Previously, owners leased out the track during the winter months to private enterprises that put on the event. Allred got tired of that.

“I’m not much of a harness fan,” said Allred, who owns more than 400 quarter horses. “But we’ll never have another tenant come in here. They just end up getting under your feet.”

Although on-track handle has been weaker than he hoped for, Allred said the harness meeting is expected to turn a profit. He credited the track’s ability to put on a full slate of 13 or 14 races each night on its Thursday through Sunday cards, lower overhead brought on by fewer horses in the barns and lack of competition from satellite wagering at other tracks, as key factors in the meeting’s success.

“The harness meet has been a pleasant surprise,” Allred said. “We’ve never had a harness meet do this well overall here.”

He said in-state simulcasting revenue has carried the meet, leading to three record overall handles so far, including the $1,751,869.50 taken in March 14. Before this season, the last time a record for handle had been set was March 13, 1987.

Thanks to the success, the harness meet has increased purses as much as 8%. Allred said his goal is to bring the level of harness purses in line with those of quarter horse purses, which are still 5% to 8% higher on average.

About 12% of purses goes to harness stakes horses, about half of what a quarter horse stakes owner would earn, Allred said. He hopes to increase the take for stakes horses and purses next year.

Track renovations continue, Allred said, bringing the remodeling bill to between $12 million and $14 million. Among the latest upgrades are restroom renovations and better lighting in the grandstands. Several new concession stands are being added and Allred said he wants to lower food prices.

The parking lot is undergoing a three-stage resurfacing, part of a $1.2 million project that also included new blacktop in the barn area, Allred said.

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The last big day of harness racing before the meet concludes will be on April 4, when the Arnold Pacing Series comes to an end with the $100,000 guaranteed final. Only horses who have raced in a minimum of two of the first three legs of the series are eligible.

The Arnold Series is the last and richest of seven racing series put on by the track during the winter. The first three legs had combined purses of $60,000 and no other series final was worth more than $40,000.

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It will be interesting to see how much competition Los Alamitos gets, for racing horses and simulcast betting, in the early portion of its 1997 meet, now that Remington Park Race Track in Oklahoma City will open its 40-day spring meet Friday. Previously, the event began in mid-May.

Allred has said the early part of the Los Alamitos meet has always been a concern because of lackluster handle. Now comes more competition.

Remington hopes to capitalize on the closing of two nearby Texas tracks, Bandera Downs and Trinity Park and the April opening of a thoroughbred meet at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas. Texas horsemen don’t seem excited about running a quarter horse meet in their state simultaneously with a thoroughbred meet and many have crossed the state line into Oklahoma.

So far the earlier opening at Remington has shown signs of being popular, track racing secretary Robert Werstler told QuarterWeek magazine. All 1,216 stalls have been rented and there is a waiting list of about 20 trainers.

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The track has posted its 1997 quarter horse racing schedule. The meet opens April 17 and the first stakes race is a day later with the $20,000 Kaweah Bar Handicap for 3-year-olds and up. The meet concludes Dec. 21 with the Quarter Horse Breeders Challenge Championship Night featuring nine stakes races, including the $300,000 Champion of Champions for 3-year-olds and up.

The Los Alamitos Million for 2-year-olds, the richest race at the track with an estimated $1.2 million in prize money, is scheduled for Dec. 20.

Four races have been dropped from the program. They are the Table Tennis Handicap, the Double Bid Handicap, the Katella Handicap and the Lute Proctor Memorial Handicap. Prize money from those events will be used to increase purses of other stakes races.

The 550-yard Josie’s Bar Handicap for 3-year-olds has been renamed the Paul Ford Memorial Handicap and will be held Dec. 12.

The schedule:

April 18--Kaweah Bar Handicap; April 25--Miss Princess Handicap; May 2--El Primero Del Ano Derby; May 3--La Primera Del Ano Derby; Ma 16--Spencer Childers Championship Handicap; May 17--James Smith Memorial Handicap; May 23--Kindergarten Futurity; May 30--Town Policy Handicap; June 7--California Sires Cup Derby; June 27--Vessels Maturity; June 28--Governor’s Cup Futurity; July 4--Independence Day Handicap; July 5--Gold Rush Derby; July 11--Golden State Derby; July 12--Pat Hyland Memorial Handicap; July 25--Go Man Go Handicap; July 26--Vandy’s Flash Handicap; Aug 1--Ed Burke Memorial Futurity; Aug. 2--American Quarter Horse Racing Assn. California Juvenile Challenge; Aug. 16--AQHA California 870 Challenge; Aug. 22--Governor’s Cup Derby; Aug. 29--AQHA California Challenge Championship; Sept. 5--California Sires Cup Futurity; Sept. 12--Bull Rastus Handicap; Sept. 20--Mildred Vessels Memorial Handicap; Sept. 26--AQHA California Derby Challenge, AQHA California Claiming Stakes Challenge; Oct. 3--Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Assn. Breeders Futurity; PCQHRA Breeders Derby; Oct. 10--Los Alamitos Invitational Championship; Oct. 17--Las Damas Handicap; Nov. 1--AQHA Challenge Championship Night; Nov. 7--Golden State Futurity; Nov. 14--Los Alamitos Derby; Nov. 21--Marathon Handicap; Nov. 28--Z. Wayne Griffin Directors Trials (for Champion of Champions); Dec. 12--Paul Ford Memorial Handicap; Dec. 19--Southern California Derby; Dec. 20--Los Alamitos Million, Los Alamitos Million Consolation; Dec. 21--Champion of Champions, Championship Classic, Juvenile Class, Freshman Classic, Sophomore Classic, Distaff Classic, Marathon Classic, Classic Futurity, Classics Derby.