Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba will try to strengthen his case as the champion 3-year-old of 2022 when he leaves the starting gate in the 2022 Malibu Stakes on Monday at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Trained by Bob Baffert, Taiba has three wins, including two Grade 1 victories, this year. For Monday, Taiba has been installed as the 6-5 morning-line favorite in the 2022 Malibu Stakes odds. Forbidden Kingdom (3-1), who is trained by Richard Mandella, and Messier (6-1), who is trained by Baffert, round out the top three choices in the nine-horse Malibu Stakes field. Post time for the seven-furlong race is 6:39 p.m. ET. 

With some of the country's top 3-year-olds set to leave the starting gate on Monday, you'll want to see what astute racing reporter and analyst Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2022 Malibu Stakes 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 Malibu Stakes field, given her horse-by-horse analysis, made her picks and constructed her wagers.

One surprise: Yu is completely tossing Messier, even though he is the third choice on the morning line, at 6-1. "Messier has been working as expected in the mornings and bested Forbidden Kingdom in a previous matchup, but I generally bypass a race after a bleeding episode," Yu told SportsLine. She is not including Messier in any of her wagers.

Moreover, Yu's top choice is a horse who ran a "respectable" race in his last start. She also is high on a double-digit longshot whom she calls "intriguing." She is including these horses in her 2022 Malibu Stakes bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY need to see her picks before locking in any of your own.

So who wins the 2022 Malibu Stakes? And which intriguing double-digit longshot is a MUST-BACK? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2022 Malibu Stakes horse-by-horse analysis and picks, all from the insider who hit the exacta in last month's Breeders' Cup Classic!