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The brief Los Alamitos Winter Thoroughbred meet winds down over the upcoming weekend with a race designed especially for 2014 Horse of the Year California Chrome as a prep for his final start in next months $12 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and as a fan farewell event for the state-bred hero who has stabled at Los Al for the majority of his amazing career.The $180,000 Winter Challenge Stakes drew a field of 12, two of those also-eligibles, with California Chrome slated to start on the outside in post position 10. Each of the starters are guaranteed at least $10,000 if they finish the race, which would seem to be the only plausible reason the connections of several of Chromes foes would have to contest what is shaping up like a 1-1/16-mile paid workout for the future Hall of Fame racehorse.As a celebration and a fond goodbye to Chrome from his Southern California fans, the Winter Challenge is a cant-miss event. But for those looking to turn a profit by wagering on Chrome on Saturday, its a certainty that even the payoffs for bets like the exacta and trifecta will be quite modest given that Chrome is practically a cinch to leave the gate at odds of 1-to-10.Eight of the nine other horses scheduled to start in the Winter Challenge exit optional-claiming or straight claiming races, the only exception being Longacres Mile winner Point Piper (#4), whose most recent start was a runner-up finish to Midnight Storm in the Native Diver Stakes. That Jerry Hollendorfer-trained 6-year-old is an honest horse who has hung tough against the likes of Dortmund and Effinex over the past year or so, and I figure Mario Gutierrez will be wise enough not to challenge Chrome through the early stages of the race and shoot for the runner-up check.Point Piper will probably be the second wagering choice at post time, and, with a $20 budget, I will include him underneath California Chrome in an $8 exacta. With the remaining $12, Ill select three other horses that should have longer odds and use them with Point Piper in a $1 trifecta in the second and third slots behind Chrome. Papacoolpapacool (#9) has made all but one of his 18 career starts on either turf or synthetic surfaces. The gelding has two stakes wins on turf, and like Point Piper, has shown the ability to fashion a decent closing kick with a good trip.The other two horses, Lucky J Lane (#6) and Avanti Bello (#7), also have some stakes experience, particularly Avanti Bello. That Doug ONeill-trained 4-year-old is probably the most consistent racehorse in the Winter Challenge aside from California Chrome, having finished in the top three in eight of his 11 starts this year.Betting strategy on a $20 budget $8 exacta: 10 with 4 $1 trifecta: 10 with 4,6,7,9 with 4,6,7,9 ($12)For more stories like this check out Americas Best Racing.Chris Silva Jersey . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. 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In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes.SEPANG, Malaysia -- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton put himself in the best possible position to wrest back the lead in the Formula One drivers championship by claiming pole position for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Saturday.Hamilton beat his teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg by four tenths of a second in qualifying.The British driver headed Mercedes first-ever front-row lockout in Malaysia and set a new Formula One lap record at the Sepang International Circuit with a time of 1 minute, 32.850 seconds.While Hamilton has been unconvincing in race starts this season, his impressive performance Saturday should provide a timely confidence boost after Rosbergs hat trick of race victories in the preceding races.Today the car felt fantastic, I really enjoyed the lap, Hamilton said. It could have been faster.I dont feel anything is going to stop us (in the race). As a team we have great pace and if you look at the last race, we had pretty good starts and we continuously work on that. Thats not something Im going to let in my mind. Im thinking of getting a launch off the grid and the car feels really good on the long runs.Rosberg was marginally off Hamiltons pace throughout his last flying lap and a wobble on the final corner put paid to his pole chances. He denied that he went out on that last lap only targeting second, given Hamiltons superb time.Of course I was going for pole, what else would I be doing out there? Rosberg said. It would have been close but I made a mistake going into the last corner.Second place, I have to live with that now, it doesnt mean aa victory is not possible tomorrow.dddddddddddd. Im still optimistic.Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo qualified third and fourth respectively, ahead of the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg were seventh and eighth, followed by McLarens Jenson Button ninth for his 300th F1 start, and Felipe Massa of Williams 10th.While Mercedes will be expected to convert its front row spots into a race win -- the team has won all but one race this season, with the exception being caused by a collision between its two drivers -- Red Bull and Ferrari had both shown strong race pace in practice, equal to that of the Mercedes.Weve made changes after Singapore and it seemed to work, Verstappen said. The long run pace looked promising and Im very pleased to qualify behind the Mercedes cars.Race strategy is not expected to be significant on Sunday, with two pitstops and long stints on the medium and hard tires expected by all runners due to the low levels of tire degradation on the very smooth new surface.I dont think its going to be too exciting strategy-wise because the tires are pretty similar, Rosberg said. I dont think itll be such a deciding factor.Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso made no serious attempt to get out of the Q1 qualifying period due to a slew of grid penalties for installing all new engine parts, and was going to start last regardless. ' ' '