Los Alamitos summer meet led by Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes
Three stakes worth $400,000 and a July 4 Great Lady M. will frame Los Alamitos’ nine-day summer meet, with Pick 4s, a Pick Six and contest action.
Los Alamitos has built its summer Thoroughbred meet around a sharp wagering edge: three stakes worth $400,000, a compact nine-day schedule and a Grade 2 anchor that should draw the fastest sprint fillies and mares on the West Coast. The Great Lady M. Stakes, with a $200,000 guarantee, will top the card on Saturday, July 4 and give the meet its clearest centerpiece for both horse placement and betting interest.
The meet will run Friday, June 19 through Sunday, July 5, with racing Fridays through Sundays across three weekends and a 1 p.m. PT first post. That short run matters. It narrows opportunities for horsemen, which should keep fields more selective, and it gives bettors a cleaner map of where the pressure points lie. The stakes lineup is spread across three distinct tests: the $100,000 Bertrando on Saturday, June 20, the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday, June 27 and the Great Lady M. on July 4.
Each race serves a different part of the summer puzzle. The Bertrando is the state-bred gatekeeper, listed for California-bred runners and shown in the official stakes book as a one-mile race for 3-year-olds and upward. The Los Alamitos Derby is a listed 1 1/8-mile route for 3-year-olds, a race that should sort out the division’s stamina types before the later summer stakes season begins. Then comes the Great Lady M., run at 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares 3 and up, the kind of sprint that rewards speed, positioning and proven class.
Los Alamitos’ wagering menu adds to the appeal. The meet will feature two $1 Pick 4s, a $2 Pick Six and a Players’ Pick 5 with a reduced 14 percent takeout on the first five races. On June 27, the track will also host a handicapping contest with live-money play and berths to the 2027 NTRA Handicapping Championship in Las Vegas, a sign that Los Alamitos wants this short meet to generate serious handle, not just fill a calendar slot.
The Great Lady M. has the profile to carry that effort. Los Alamitos says Sweet Azteca won it for a second straight year in 2025 and lowered her own track record, now listed at 1:14.32 for 6 1/2 furlongs. Juan Hernandez called her “a super filly and very professional” and said, “I think she won the race right out of the gate.” That kind of speed story is exactly why the race remains the meet’s wagering magnet. Nevada Beach’s 2025 Los Alamitos Derby win also gave Bob Baffert his ninth consecutive victory in that race, another reminder that this short meet still produces national-level form. Nominations close June 11 for the Great Lady M., June 18 for the Bertrando and June 25 for the Los Alamitos Derby, setting up a fast-moving summer window with real stakes attached.
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