Los Alamitos: A Citadel for Quarter Horse Racing

There is no question that Southern California is a sports-crazy region.

In baseball, the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Los Angeles Dodgers are a top draw. The San Diego Chargers fly the flag for SoCal in the NFL as the debate for expansion in LA rolls right along.

The Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings take center ice in the NHL. The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers electrify the masses at Staples Center.

And at the Home Depot Center, you either bleed Chivas USA red and white or LA Galaxy blue and gold—but certainly not both when the Honda Superclasico is in session down on the pitch.

Southern California is also home to exciting horse racing action. Near Solana Beach, the Del Mar Fairgrounds is home to one of the finest turf courses in the country. Located in Arcadia, Santa Anita Park is the oldest track in the region, opening in 1934, and is known for its spring and autumn Oak Tree meets.

The city of Inglewood is home to Hollywood Park, where Laffit Pincay Jr. amassed 9,530 career victories. And among the county fair tracks, Fairplex Park in Pomona packs a punch.

But there is one track that I hold dear to my heart.

A few days ago, I was working as a precinct officer for the elections in Los Angeles County. One of my fellow officers was a man by the name of Sam Cooper. Now, Sam is a septuagenarian handicapper, with many years of experience making wagers on thoroughbreds. He also is an avid Boston Celtics fan.

As the elections were winding down, I asked Sam, "Where do you go to make your wagering?"

He said, with a glint in his eyes and a smile beyond his years, "Los Alamitos."

"Los Alamitos?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. Actually, I go there to wager on the East Coast tracks like Monmouth Park, Aqueduct, Belmont; any track whose race program ends at 2pm, because I do not want to stay late in the evening." And the discussion about the East Coast tracks went on for the longest time.

Satellite wagering at Los Alamitos is just one facet of this course, opened in 1951 by the Vessels combine on the grounds of Frank Vessels Sr.'s ranch.

During its year-long meet, thoroughbreds and Arabians rumble through its track. But it's the quarter horses that make Los Alamitos one of a kind. While Ruidoso Downs is home to the world's richest quarter-horse race in the All-American Futurity, Los Alamitos is home to four-quarter races with purses of over $1,000,000.

Speedsters like Be A Bono, Vandy’s Flash, Jet Deck, Kaweah Bar, Charger Bar, Dash For Cash, Sgt Pepper Feature, Dashs Dream, Corona Chick, First Down Dash, Chicks Beduino, Chingaderos, Native Empress, Refrigerator, A Ransom, Whosleavingwho, Be A Bono, Ocean Runaway, and Freaky left their impression on this five-eights-of-a-mile oval with 440-yard chute.

Los Alamitos Race Course, located in Cypress, was the culmination of funds generated from Vessels' oil drilling platform business.

The first meet in 1951 saw the Vessels family struggle to repair the new racetrack. It was decided at the end of the meet that $100,000 ($822,675.47 today using the BLS CPI Inflation Calculator) would be invested in structural improvements to the track. With 16 days of racing held at the 1952 meet, business doubled, and the legacy of Los Alamitos really began to take off.

In 1955, fans witnessed the arrival of Go Man Go, the first major superstar horse. With a unique look and charm, fans flocked to the track, chanting his name.

For the first three-and-a-half decades, the Vessels family owned Los Alamitos. But in the 1980's, Millie Vessels sold Los Alamitos to the owners of Hollywood Park.

Enter Dr. Edward C. Allred. A one-time law student at USC (later a medical school graduate and practice physician) and an avid reader of the Daily Racing Form, Allred was a patron of the sport of kings.

"I used to go to the races at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park with my friend, Tom Seibly, who is now a retired judge and on our board of directors at the track,” Allred said in an interview with Los Alamitos Race Course. “At the time, I only had a vague idea of what a quarter horse race was. I hadn’t ever seen one. But I loved it all from the very start."

It wasn't an easy road for Allred. Hollywood Park sold Los Alamitos to a consortium of harness racing interests. But as the 1990s dawned, Allred and close business partner R.D. Hubbard purchases one-half of the track.

There are many tracks in North America that are suitable for harness racing, from Woodbine and Mohawk in Ontario, Canada to the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey. One track, the Red Mile in Lexington, even has a two-day quarter horse meet. (If only it lasted a month or more...)

But Los Alamitos was never a harness racing track to begin with. It was destined to be the home for quarter horses to rumble down the dirt. In 1998, Allred gained sole possession of Los Alamitos Race Course.

“I never set out with any idea that I would be able to own this place or anything like that," Allred said. "It would have been preposterous for me to ever think so, but it fell to my lot and I thank God that I have been able to find the means to do it.

"This place has been special to me since I was a kid and has always been the citadel for quarter horse racing.”

Today, Los Alamitos retains its charm of the past, while welcoming the future with open arms. Outside the track are the trappings of the current age, replete with a Costco, a church, and other shopping and dining excursions.

Inside the track, the Vessels Club—dedicated to the original founder of Los Alamitos—has earned a reputation for its fine dining. For those handicappers who aren't the well-to-do type, there's the Players Room, Rodney's Bar, and Schwanie's Grill at the Gap.

I remember when I was eleven or twelve years old and one of my uncles would drive me to Los Alamitos, and I made a friendly wager—through my uncle, of course—on an exacta for the first race of Los Alamitos's program.

The one-dollar exacta paid off, and I ended up with $13 in my pocket. Well, actually, it became nine dollars and change after I got the exacta for the second race incorrect, but it still was a nice feeling.

The thrill of wagering some of the richest quarter horse races is what drives fans to Los Alamitos. One of the flagship races at this track is the Los Alamitos $2 Million Futurity, held at the end of the yearlong meet in December.

Other races include the Ed Burke Memorial Futurity, Kindergarten Futurity, Golden State Million Futurity, Mildred Vessels Memorial, and the Grade III Los Alamitos Super Derby, the richest of its kind for three-year-olds.

And finally, there is the Grade I Champion of Champions Race.

Inaugurated in 1972, it features the winner of the Los Alamitos Winter Championship, Remington Park Championship, Vessels Maturity, All American Derby, Mildred Vessels Memorial, Refrigerator Handicap, Los Alamitos Invitational Championship, Bank of America Challenge Championship, Los Alamitos Super Derby, and the Z Wayne Griffin Trials, with the Go Man Go Stakes winner qualifying as the first alternate.

In addition to great dining and great racing, Los Alamitos Race Course is used for film shooting.

Movies like Simpatico and Crank 2, and shows like The Hulk, Heart to Heart, Charlie's Angels, CSI: Miami, Prison Break, Arli$$, and Thieves features Los Alamitos as a backdrop.

Indeed, it's proof that this little track in the middle of Orange County has come a long way. So if you decide to make a wager on the ponies, you can take the easy way out and go for the meets at Santa Anita, Del Mar, Hollywood Park, or Fairplex if you're around Pomona in September.

Or you can do yourself a huge favor and stop by Los Alamitos.

Because with 155 days of year-round action featuring the world's fastest equines on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, there is no question that, in the words of Edward C. Allred, it is the Citadel for quarter horse racing.