Los Alamitos Pick 6 carryover climbs to $423,178 for Dec. 18

It’s been nearly two weeks since anyone managed to hit the Pick 6 at Los Alamitos. As a result, a massive carryover pool of $423,178 has accumulated for Friday’s card at the California oval.

Since Los Alamitos offers a traditional $2 Pick 6 (without a constantly-accruing jackpot pool), the full carryover amount is set to be split among Friday’s winning ticketholders… if any turn up. No one managed to construct winning tickets on Dec. 10, Dec. 11, Dec. 12, Dec. 13, or Dec. 17, allowing the carryover pool to grow exponentially from $4,258 to $13,703 to $43,962 to $145,798 and finally to $423,178.

Los Alamitos expects Friday’s Pick 6 pool to exceed a million dollars, setting the stage for big payoffs. Hitting a $2 Pick 6 isn’t easy—using just three horses per race costs $729—but spreading deep with an expensive ticket is worthwhile if you can catch a five-figure or even six-figure payoff.

Friday’s sequence kicks off in Race 4, an $8,000 starter allowance race. Just seven horses have been entered, with #5 Awhitesportscoat (2-1) and #4 Autumn Days (7-2) the obvious contenders to include.  Awhitesportscoat has rallied to beat his rival by narrows margins twice in the last six weeks, though Autumn Days has more tactical speed and may appreciate cutting back to 5 1/2 furlongs. Using both should be sufficient to kick off the Pick 6 on a winning note.

Race 5 is a maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies. #2 Empire House (8-5) looks like the best of the experienced fillies after finishing second by half a length at Del Mar last month, posting an 81 Brisnet Speed rating pretty much on par for Friday’s class level and distance. But don’t count out the first-time starter #1 Donna Bella (2-1), who brings sharp workouts to the equation for trainer Simon Callaghan (a 21% winner with debut runners).

The Pick 6 concludes with Race 9, a $20,000 maiden claiming event for fillies and mares. In a race containing several runners with five or more defeats to their names, the lightly-raced #10 Princess Tale (3-1) offers appeal.

Although she finished last in her debut against maiden special weight company on turf, Princess Tale showed improvement when dropping in class and switching to dirt for a $25,000 maiden claiming race at Santa Anita, rallying to finish third with a competitive 76 Brisnet Speed rating. If she handles the stretch-out from 6 1/2 furlongs to a mile, Princess Tale can vie for victory against $20,000 company.

Good luck!

Our traditional $2 Pick 6 has a big Pick 6 Carryover going into this Friday afternoon! The total pool will be in the Millions with no jackpot provision ever at Los Alamitos. pic.twitter.com/Llis7jhwPI

— Los Alamitos Race Course (@losalracing) December 18, 2020