2021 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity morning-line odds, picks: Racing insider offers bet strategy for Saturday's race

An automatic berth to next month's Breeders' Cup Juvenile will be on the line when 13 2-year-olds leave the starting gate on Saturday in the 2021 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kent. The Todd Pletcher-trained Double Thunder has three wins in four career starts and has been installed as a lukewarm 4-1 morning-line favorite in the 2021 Breeders' Futurity odds. Stellar Tap and Don't Wait Up are the co-second choices at 9-2 in the 13-horse Breeders' Futurity field. Post time is 5:15 p.m. ET.

Before you make any Breeders' Futurity picks or bets, you NEED to see the latest picks from racing insider and Beyer Speed Figure maker Bob Weir. 

A two-time qualifier for the prestigious National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas, Weir has produced multiple five-figure days at the track over the years, including a $60,000 Pick 6 at Del Mar in 2014. This year, he has crushed the three-year-old races. He hit the exacta in the Sam F. Davis Stakes, Tampa Bay Derby and Peter Pan Stakes, the trifecta in the Risen Star Stakes, Blue Grass Stakes and Pennsylvania Derby and the superfecta in the Belmont Stakes, with the Tampa Bay score returning $1,414. Those are just some of his scores in 2021.

The Breeders' Futurity annually serves as one of the key prep races for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and the winner of this year's race will receive an automatic berth to that lucrative race. That has attracted a large and evenly balanced field of 13 for Saturday's Futurity. Because of the large field and the relatively short run to the first turn, horses on the outside, such as the Brendan Lynch-trained Classic Causeway (in post No. 13), could be in danger of losing massive ground.

The Futurity will be run around two turns and at 1 1/16 miles, and many of Saturday's runners will be facing those challenges for the first time. The challenge of trying to determine what horses will thrive around two turns and stretching out in distance makes handicapping the Futurity a difficult but potentially lucrative exercise.

Now, Weir has handicapped the Breeders' Futurity 2021 field, made his picks and constructed his bets.

One surprise: Weir is almost completely fading Double Thunder, even though he is the morning-line favorite, at 4-1. "He still has not run particularly fast on the clock, so I will play against him on top," Weir tells SportsLine. Weir prefers four horses more than Double Thunder.

Weir's top pick is a double-digit long shot who Weir says has a "big chance." He is high on another long shot who he says is a "true contender." Weir is including these horses in his 2021 Breeders' Futurity bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY need to see his picks before locking in any of your own!

What double-digit long shot wins the 2021 Breeders' Futurity? What other long shot is a must-back? And how has Weir constructed his tickets?... Join SportsLine right now to get the top 2021 Breeders' Futurity picks and bets, all from the racing insider who has been on fire!