Los Alamitos Cash....Starlet (G1

As winter fast approaches, the major stakes action takes place at warm-weather venues Dec. 8. The only graded stakes in the country are at Los Alamitos Race Course in Southern California, where the brief eight-day meet is topped by the Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity (G1) and the Starlet (G1), each worth $300,000 for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

In sunny South Florida, an 11-race Clasico del Caribe Internacional program includes five stakes for  Caribbean-bred horses, climaxed by the $300,000 Caribbean Classic for 3-year-olds making one circuit around the main track at Gulfstream Park. The card begins with six $75,000 stakes for 2-year-olds.

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CashCall Futurity (LRC, race 5, 2:28 PT): This race was recently downgraded to grade 2 status beginning in 2019, but for now it remains the final grade 1 chance of the season for 2-year-olds, and offers 17 qualifying points (10-4-2-1) to next year's Kentucky Derby Presented By Woodford Reserve (G1).

Formerly the Hollywood Futurity, this race has been won 10 times by Bob Baffert, including all four runnings since it was relocated to Los Alamitos. Baffert book-ends the field, with morning-line favorite Improbable (1) breaking from the rail and Mucho Gusto (6) drawn on the outside.

Improbable, campaigned by the same connections as 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify , comes off a lengthy score in the Street Sense Stakes on Nov. 2, a race where the internal fractions and final time (:44.96, 1:09.93 and 1:35.61 seconds) were faster than those recorded by older allowance horses a race earlier (:45.35, 1:10 and 1:36.21).

Improbable figures to trip out nicely just off Mucho Gusto and Savagery (2), who hooked up early and wound up one-two in the Bob Hope Stakes (G3) just three weeks ago.

In anticipation of a hot pace, things could set up for either Dueling (3) or King of Speed (4) to pick up the pieces for minor shares at 6-1 and 15-1 respectively. Dueling was a decisive maiden winner when stretched out to two turns in late September, and somehow wound up racing wide in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) after breaking from the rail. King of Speed made steady progress in turf routes through the second half of the year, before disliking yielding ground in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) while on the deeper inside portion of the course.