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Los Alamitos Quarter Horse Picks & Predictions — October 24, 2026
It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Los Alamitos — clear skies, 74°F, and a fast Cypress dirt strip that should have gates flying open clean all day. Eight races are on the docket, and the card leans heavily maiden, which means raw talent, unpredictability, and some genuine betting value hiding in the pools if you know where to look.
Quarter Horse racing is a different animal. We're talking distances from 300 yards to 1,000 yards — races over in the blink of an eye where gate break and early acceleration aren't just advantages, they're everything. Today's card rewards horses with elite burst speed, and our TrackWiz ratings reflect that edge. Let's get into it.
Best Bets
Race 1
Maiden · 1000 yd · Dirt
A wide-open maiden sprint at 1000 yards where TrackWiz ratings separate a clear top tier from the pack — but with a field full of first-timers, anything can happen when the gate opens.
Draw Close earns the top TrackWiz rating in this field at 84.9, which stands well above the rest of the contenders. Edgar Payeras gets the call from trainer Terri Eaton, and the horse carries an avg speed figure of 54 — solid for a maiden at this level. At 9/2 on the morning line, there's genuine value here if the rating translates to the track. In a race with this much uncertainty, backing the standout rating makes sense.
Stern Sentence is the morning-line favorite at 2/1 under trainer Felix L. Gonzalez, who also saddles the longshot Run Unicorn Run — so the barn clearly likes this spot. The 71.34 TrackWiz rating is the second-best in the field, and an avg speed of 53 gives us at least some prior form to work with. Henry Reynoso Lopez takes the mount, and if Draw Close falters, Stern Sentence looks like the most likely beneficiary.
Enchanting Force checks in with a 57.5 rating and draws post 2 — a favorable gate position in a quarter horse sprint. Trainer James W. Glenn, Jr. pairs with Cesar Ortega, a jockey combination worth watching. At 5/2 on the morning line, the public will keep this one honest, but the solid rating and gate edge make Enchanting Force a reasonable exotic inclusion for show.
Race 2
Maiden · 1000 yd · Dirt
Two horses separated by less than a point at the top of the TrackWiz ratings create a fascinating battle at the head of this maiden 1000-yard field, with the morning line telling a very different story than our numbers.
Da Bel Fiore posts a TrackWiz rating of 84.74 — tops in the field — and draws post 4, a clean middle gate in a 1000-yard sprint. Trainer Jose Raudales sends her out with Cesar Ortega aboard, a jockey who's already active on this card. The avg speed of 55 backs up the rating and suggests Da Bel Fiore has shown real ability in her past work. At 5/2, the price is fair for the field leader.
Spy in Disguise sits just a hair behind at 84.17 on the TrackWiz scale and goes off at 5/1 — that's where the value conversation starts. Trainer Alberto Ruvalcaba keeps this one lightly raced, and without an avg speed on record, there's some mystery to factor in. If she fires fresh, this is the horse most likely to give Da Bel Fiore a real fight to the wire.
Una Mirada is the third pick out of trainer Vann Belvoir's barn — notable because Belvoir also runs the morning-line favorite Supreme Wind. Una Mirada holds a 66.86 rating, the third-best mark in the race, and an avg speed of 53 shows she's been competitive before. At 6/1, she's a smart show ticket and a worthwhile inclusion in trifecta coverage.
Race 3
Maiden · 300 yd · Dirt
This 300-yard maiden dash features a horse with the highest TrackWiz rating in the first three races of the card, but a pair of intriguing second-tier contenders keep this from being a one-horse show.
Apolitical Vip draws a commanding 87.08 TrackWiz rating — the best single-race mark we've seen on this card so far. Trainer Jose Antonio Flores hands the mount to Irving Lara, and the 3/1 morning line suggests the connections expect a big effort. With no avg speed on record this is a first-out runner, but the rating model sees serious upside here. In a 300-yard dash, gate speed is everything, and Apolitical Vip profiles as a horse built for this distance.
Cuziloveutoomuchbaby — yes, that's the name on the program — brings a 76.53 TrackWiz rating that puts her firmly in the top half of this field. Trainer Elena Andrade sends her out with Rodrigo Aceves, and at 6/1 there's real overlay potential if she fires at her ceiling. The gap between her rating and the show pick makes a case for including her underneath Apolitical Vip in exactas.
Relentless Tithing holds the third-best rating in the race at 69.59 and gets trainer Manuel Rodolfo Rodriguez paired with Gerardo Vera. The 7/2 morning line shows public respect, and in a condensed 300-yard sprint where outcomes are often decided by a fraction, having this horse in your trifecta at a reasonable price is sound bankroll management.
We're opening three races to all readers today, and they give you a nice cross-section of the card. In Race 1, Draw Close (9/2 morning line, TrackWiz rating 84.9) is our top selection in the 1,000-yard opener — a route by quarter horse standards, where stamina starts to factor in alongside raw speed. Race 2 stays at 1,000 yards and we like Da Bel Fiore at 5/2, a morning line that looks fair given the rating. Then Race 3 snaps back to a sharp 300-yard dash where Apolitical Vip (3/1, 87.08) carries our highest free-race rating of the trio — and on a fast, dry track like today's, a horse with that kind of pop off the gate is dangerous.
One thing connecting all three free picks: the clear, dry conditions should keep the playing field level with no moisture-related bias favoring inside or outside paths. Clean breaks matter most today, and all three of our top selections profile as horses that can capitalize on a pristine strip.
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Eight races, perfect weather, and a fast track — Los Alamitos is set up for a sharp Saturday. Start with Draw Close, Da Bel Fiore, and Apolitical Vip in your free plays, and let TrackWiz subscribers dig into the full card from Race 4 onward. Good luck at the windows — race smart.