LOS ALAMITOS, CA—JANUARY 18, 2017—A pair of outstanding stakes races featuring the likes of multiple stakes winners Unclaimed Dividend, Viento Negro and He Is The Risingstar will headline the 8-race program on Friday at Los Alamitos. First post time is 7 p.m.

The $25,000 Cypress Handicap for older horses will be contested at 350 yards and will be eighth race, which is the final leg of the late Pick Four. The Barbra B Handicap has been rescheduled for Friday night and will be the fourth race on the card, which is also the final leg of the early Pick Four.

EG High Desert Farms’ Unclaimed Dividend won a pair of stakes events as a longshot last year, but now figures to be one of the favorites to take the Cypress Handicap. To be ridden by Jesus Rios Ayala for trainer Yanet Rodriguez, the gelding by A Mere Chocolate won last year’s Governor’s Cup Derby at 36-1 odds and then the A Ransom Handicap at 8-1. He’ll be going after his fourth career victory on Friday night.

The horse to beat could be Celina Molina’s Viento Negro, the Grade 1 stakes placed runner and daylight winner of the First Down Dash Handicap on December 17. Trained by Juan Aleman, Viento Negro won the Holiday Handicap in 2015 and was the third-place finisher of the Grade 1 Go Man Go Handicap last summer. Eduardo Nicasio will be aboard the First Moonflash gelding.

Abigail Kawananakoa’s Walk Thru Fire gelding Free Swinger, the runner-up in the A Ransom, is one of five others that will compete in the Cypress. The others are Good Looker, Makin Moments, First N Final and Snitching.

The Barbra B at 550 yards will be headed by He Is The Risingstar, the king of the 550 division at Los Alamitos. Friday’s card will also feature a terrific allowance event headed by Ed Allred’s Nymph, the now 4-year-old mare with four stakes victories to her name. Lotta Dynasty, the Independence Day Handicap winner, is another of the favorites in this allowance event.

Barbra B Handicap On The Schedule For Friday

Sunday’s Barbra B Handicap has been added to Friday’s racing program at Los Alamitos and will feature the same seven runners that were slated to participate last weekend. The Barbra B will be contested at 550 yards and is carded as the fourth race on the card.

Fulton Quien Sabe Ranches' He Is The Risingstar, the owner of the two fastest 550-yard times of the 2016 racing season at Los Alamitos, will look to earn his fourth stakes victory at this distance when he carries the highweight of 126 pounds in the $20,000 Barbra B Handicap.

He Is The Risingstar is also the defending champion of the Barbra B, which he won last year with an oustanding time of :27.105. His winning time in the Barbra B was the meet’s second fastest at 550 yard, bettered only by his :26.80 clocking when easily winning the Paul Ford Handicap by 2 1/4 lengths. Those two victories plus his victory in the 2015 Paul Ford earned him the title of the king of the 550-yard division. The son of Mr Jess Perry has won $107,760 in his career and six of 18 career starts. Cesar De Alba will ride the Texas-bred for trainer Paul Jones.

Fawna Knight’s Front And Center will carry the next highweight of 123 pounds based on his two 550 yards wins in 2015 plus his victory in that year’s First Down Dash Handicap at 400 yards. The Walk Thru Fire gelding won once in 2016, a daylight victory at 870 yards. He’ll be looking for big effort at 550 once again, especially after running a troubled 10th in the Barbra B. Trained by Matt Fales for his parents, Ralph and Carolyn Fales, Mickey Ward will carry 122 pounds. He was second in his 550-yard debut in the Paul Ford and could prove a tough customer once again thanks to his stamina and experience at 870 yards.

Martha Wells’ Getit Quick has always been highly competitive and was a top three finisher in seven of nine starts last year. The Favorite Cartel gelding ran third at 15-1 odds in the Paul Ford, a race that was also his debut at 550 yards.Getit Quick’s dam is the stakes winner Getit Together, which won the Las Damas Handicap and AQHA Members Plus Stakes in 2012. Paul Jones’ Kismet will also compete in this event. He’s a half-brother of 2005 Grade 2 Firecracker Futurity winner Make A Secret.

The field to Barbra B will also include Dustys Classy Dash and Miss Loujean, who posted a 2 1/2 length victory in her last start on January 7.

Courtesy of www.losalamitos.com.