Trainer Bob Baffert looks to continue his dominance in one of the West Coast's top 2-year-old races when he sends out the top three favorites in the 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity on Saturday at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif. The 69-year-old Baffert has won the Futurity, which has been run since 1981, a record 13 times. No other trainer has won more than four. For Saturday, Baffert's Arabian Lion has been installed as the 4-5 morning-line favorite in the 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity odds. Carmel Road (2-1) and Fort Bragg (4-1) also could give Baffert his 14th Futurity win. Post time for the 1 1/16-mile race is 4:51 p.m. ET.
With lightly raced 2-year-olds set to leave the starting gate on Saturday, you'll want to see what astute racing reporter and analyst Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity picks.
Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In the 2011 Kentucky Derby, she correctly tabbed Animal Kingdom to win at a hefty 21-1. In the 2017 Breeders' Cup, she nailed 11-1 long shot Wuheida to win the Filly and Mare Turf. Last year, in a wide-open Kentucky Derby, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, she hit the Knicks Go-Medina Spirit exacta for $260.80. And in Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager this year, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.
Since joining SportsLine in November 2021, her picks have cashed in the 2021 and '22 Breeders' Cup Classics, Kentucky Oaks, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, among other races. Anyone who has followed her is way up.
Now, Yu has handicapped the 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity field, given her horse-by-horse analysis, made her picks and constructed her wagers.
One surprise: Yu's top choice is not Arabian Lion, even though he is the 4-5 morning-line favorite! "He gets the perfect draw for a smooth trip and should be favored, but his odds will be too low to play him on top," Yu told SportsLine.
Moreover, Yu's top choice is a horse whose trainer "has been targeting this spot." She also is high on a longshot who is "playable underneath." She is including these horses in her 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY need to see her picks before locking in any of your own.
So who wins the 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity? And which longshot is a MUST-BACK? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2022 Los Alamitos Futurity horse-by-horse analysis and picks, all from the insider who hit the exacta in last month's Breeders' Cup Classic!
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