Black Ruby Is Stubborn About Winning

Black Ruby, who got the best of Taz in match races last year at Del Mar and Fairplex, will try to do it again tonight in a $10,000 contest for mules at 300 yards. The winner of the seventh race will earn $6,000.

Los Alamitos will be staging mule racing for the first time and the card features another $7,000 allowance event at 350 yards in the fourth race that drew a full field.

Owned by Mary and Sonny McPherson and trained by Ron White, Black Ruby, an 11-year-old who was bred in Utah, has won 20 of 22 in the last two years. The match race will be her first start since she won a stakes at Fresno last Oct. 6.

Regular rider Jim Burns will be aboard Black Ruby and Jack Kaenel has the mount on Taz, who has been first, second or third in 58 of 66 races.

The picks: 1. Run The Light. 2. Siward. 3. Hot Mambo Nights. 4. Sarah Nelson. 5. Takin On A Dream. 6. Dream Dollars. 7. Black Ruby. 8. Shy Anns Trust. 9. Got No Whoa.

Four! Use Dream Dollars, Time To Come Clean and Royal Sassy Mary in the sixth, single Black Ruby in the seventh, Shy Anns Trust and Ib Quick Chick in the eighth and Flash Down First, Dashnshanal, Got No Whoa and Carol Day in the ninth.

Shots in the dark: The Rainbow Roulette switches to jockey Alex Bautista in the first. Skeeman could pick them up from behind in the second.

Post time: 7:15 p.m.

On the Net: For entries and results from Los Alamitos, visit: www.latimes.com/horseracing/