Before the Angels, the Ducks, the Dodgers or the Lakers…
…there was Quarter Horse racing at Los Alamitos. This is the story of how a Kentucky native’s dream became the Quarter Horse capital of the world.
A $19 start and a big dream.
Frank Vessels Sr. came to California from Kentucky in 1920 with exactly $19 in his pocket. After decades of hard work building oil drilling platforms, he chased the dream he’d carried since Kentucky — building a racetrack on a portion of his 435-acre Orange County ranch.
With his wife Grace, son Frank Jr. and daughter-in-law Millie, the family worked endless hours through a rain-soaked first meet. Within a year, Quarter Horse racing in California had found its home.
75 years at full gallop.
Match races on the Vessels Ranch
Informal, neighbor-against-neighbor match races on Frank Vessels Sr.’s Orange County ranch plant the seed for California Quarter Horse racing.
The first pari-mutuel meet
An 11-day meet pelted by constant rain. Undeterred, the Vessels family invests $100,000 in improvements — and business doubles in 1952.
Go Man Go arrives
A rugged roan 2-year-old becomes the sport’s first superstar. Crowds chant his name as he draws away to victory after victory.
The Allred era begins
Dr. Ed Allred — who first visited the track as a law student in 1956 — becomes owner and launches decades of growth.
The Vessels Club opens
An $8 million turf club named for the founding family, later honored as Southern California’s top sports park restaurant.
Year-round racing & record purses
Home to the Two Million Futurity, Champion of Champions and Super Derby — and the heart of Quarter Horse racing in America.
Champions who raced here.
Vandy’s Flash, Jet Deck, Charger Bar, Dash For Cash, Refrigerator, Corona Chick, First Down Dash and countless more have thundered down this stretch.
A love affair that started in 1956.
Ed Allred first came to Los Alamitos as a law student, drawn by a newspaper mention of the (unrelated) Allred Brothers racing that day. Decades later he became the leading breeder in the sport and sole owner of the track.
Under his leadership Los Alamitos added The Vessels Club, the Players Room, Rodney’s Bar, Schwanie’s Grill at the Gap and the Paddock Terrace — and created the Two Million Futurity, now the richest race for any breed run annually in California.
Explore the StakesMore than a racetrack.
From the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals dachshund races to the Halloween Carnival, holiday giveaways and filming for TV and film productions, Los Alamitos is an Orange County tradition.
