Bob Baffert has won all seven editions of the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) conducted at Los Alamitos Race Course, and odds are, he should keep that record perfect this year. The Hall of Fame trainer has entered Messier and Barossa in the 1 1/16-mile event for 2-year-olds, and only Doug O'Neill with Durante and Slow Down Andy and Luis Mendez with Olympic Legend are poised to thwart Baffert's reign.
A win by either Baffert runner will also give a large ownership group its second consecutive Futurity victory. SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Golconda Stables, Siena Farm, and Robert Masterson owned 2020 winner Spielberg. All of those own Messier and Barossa, along with Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Jay Schoenfarber. Stonestreet Stables is also a partner in Barossa.
Messier is the only one of the five in the Futurity field to have won a stakes and will be heavily favored Saturday. A 6 1/2-length victor in breaking his maiden in his second start, Messier captured the Nov. 14 Bob Hope Stakes (G3) at Del Mar. Baffert was particularly pleased with how the youngster handled the travel to Del Mar.
"First time on a trailer, first time he'd seen Del Mar, and he walked into the paddock like he owned it," Baffert said after the race.
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This won't be Messier's first visit to Los Alamitos, however. He began training there, recording his first work in April. While most of his recorded works have come at Santa Anita Park, Messier has worked seven times at Los Alamitos, the site of many Baffert wins during the trainer's Quarter Horse days.
Flavien Prat, who rode Messier in his two wins, will be back aboard from post 3.
Both Baffert runners are six-figure yearlings. Canadian-bred Messier (Empire Maker—Checkered Past, by Smart Strike) cost $470,000 at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearlings Showcase, from the consignment of his breeder, Sam-Son Farm. Spendthrift Farm bred Barossa (Into Mischief —Bouquet Booth, by Flower Alley) in Kentucky, and Four Star Sales sold him for $775,000 at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Barossa, to be ridden by Juan Hernandez from post 4, won a maiden race in his third start. He finished ninth in his stakes debut, the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1), after being restless in the gate. He raced within 2 1/2 lengths of the pace for the opening half-mile before weakening.
Reddam Racing's homebred Slow Down Andy (Mario Gutierrez, post 5) broke his maiden in his debut and finished second in the Nov. 5 Golden State Juvenile Stakes at Del Mar for California-breds and California-sired runners. Slow Down Andy is by Reddam Racing's Nyquist , the 2015 champion 2-year-old male.
Paul and Zillah Reddam's Reddam Racing has a longer history with the Los Alamitos Futurity. For many years when the race was conducted at Hollywood Park, it was known as the CashCall Futurity through the sponsorship of Paul Reddam's CashCall business. That name carried over for a few years at Los Alamitos as well. The Reddams have never won the race, though they ran second to Mastery with Irap at 23-1 in 2016.
Roadrunner Racing and William Strauss own O'Neill-trained Durante, a Kentucky-bred son of Distorted Humor. Durante, who will have Umberto Rispoli up from post 2 in the Futurity, won a maiden race at Del Mar Nov. 14 in his third start. O'Neill also trained The Great One, who at 33-1 finished second in the Futurity last year to Spielberg by just a nose. Strauss was among the owners of The Great One.
Olympic Legend, a son of Street Boss, broke his maiden in his second start, defeating Messier, before running sixth in the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (G1) and finishing third in the Sept. 18 Capote Stakes at Los Alamitos. The 6 1/2-furlong Capote was for non-winners of a stakes of $50,000 or more. Jose Valdivia Jr. is set to ride from the rail.
The Futurity offers qualifying points on Churchill Downs' Road to the Kentucky Derby on a 10-4-2-1 scale to its top four finishers, though series' regulations state that any horse trained by an individual suspended from Churchill Downs does not amass points.
Acting as a property owner, Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert through the 2023 spring meet at Churchill Downs after his runner, Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit, tested positive for betamethasone after a first-place finish in the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) there. A stewards' hearing could take place soon.
Medina Spirit died of a suspected heart attack Dec. 6 following a workout at Santa Anita.
LOS ALAMITOS RACE COURSE, Saturday, December 11, 2021, Race 9Entries: Los Alamitos Futurity (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Olympic Legend (KY) Jose Valdivia, Jr. 120 Luis Mendez 15/1 2 2Durante (KY) Umberto Rispoli 120 Doug F. O'Neill 9/2 3 3Messier (ON) Flavien Prat 120 Bob Baffert 1/2 4 4Barossa (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 120 Bob Baffert 5/1 5 5Slow Down Andy (CA) Mario Gutierrez 120 Doug F. O'Neill 5/1
