Futurity a measuring stick for Baffert trio

Carmel Road was 13th in his lone stakes appearance. Fort Bragg is only a maiden race winner. Arabian Lion was second as the odds-on favorite in his debut against winners in a high-profile allowance race at Keeneland last month.

The three juveniles have something to prove to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in Saturday’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles.

Baffert is the winningest trainer in race history, with 13 victories from 1997 to 2020. He won the futurity six times from 1997 to 2011 when the race was run at Hollywood Park, and seven of the last eight runnings since the race was moved to Los Alamitos in 2014.

Bettors will expect one of his runners to join the list, although the accomplished colt Practical Move and the longshot Tall Boy, a maiden after three starts, are entered in the roles of spoiler.

The result of the $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity could propel a few of them onto the list of top candidates for the 2023 Triple Crown races.

From Baffert’s perspective, the Los Alamitos Futurity provides an opportunity to learn where his prospects fit as races develop. All three won maiden races from the front.

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“We’re trying to figure out styles,” he said. “Those three horses are doing really well.”

Arabian Lion, owned by Amr Zedan, will be favored in his stakes debut and third start. The attractive three-length winner of a maiden race at six furlongs at Santa Anita in October, Arabian Lion was second by three-quarters of a length to the undefeated Giant Mischief on the Nov. 4 undercard of the first day of the Breeders’ Cup.

A $600,000 purchase at a 2-year-olds in-training sale in April, Arabian Lion bobbled shortly after the start of the allowance race and appeared to lead briefly in early stretch. He was unable to keep pace with Giant Mischief in the final strides.

“He did a little stutter step maybe 10 jumps out of the gate,” Baffert said. “He couldn’t get by him.”

With an outside post in the Los Alamitos Futurity, Arabian Lion is unlikely to be sent to the lead.

“I’m trying to teach him to settle,” Baffert said.

Carmel Road, bought for $650,000 as a yearling, won a maiden race at a mile by a whopping 8 3/4 lengths at Del Mar on Aug. 26, but was 13th in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland on Oct. 8 after racing as close as fourth on the backstretch.

In hindsight, Baffert said he regrets sending the colt to Kentucky.

“Carmel Road won at Del Mar really impressively,” he said. “I took him to Keeneland and it wasn’t fair to him. You can draw a line through that.”

Carmel Road set a fast pace in his maiden win, and has worked quickly in recent weeks, including five furlongs in 59 seconds at Santa Anita on Dec. 9.

The Los Alamitos Futurity will be the stakes debut for Fort Bragg, who has finished first in two maiden races. Fort Bragg won a maiden race at a mile on Oct. 10, finishing 1 1/2 lengths in front of Practical Move, but was disqualified and placed second for causing interference.

“He was zigging and zagging all over,” Baffert said.

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There was no such mishap in a maiden race at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Nov. 4, when Fort Bragg led throughout and won by three-quarters of a length over stablemate Reincarnate, who returned to win a maiden race at Del Mar on Nov. 25.

Fort Bragg wore blinkers in the Nov. 4 race but will not be fitted with the equipment in the Los Alamitos Futurity. Bought for $700,000 as a yearling, Fort Bragg remains a work in progress, according to his trainer.

“I put the blinkers on him, but he got rank and ran off early,” Baffert said. “He’s not there yet mentally. He’s very talented.”

Practical Move is the only runner in the small field with stakes experience. Trained by Tim Yakteen, Practical Move was third in the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 20 after a slow start. Practical Move will race without blinkers for the first time in the Los Alamitos Futurity.

The Los Alamitos Futurity is the fourth race on a 10-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. This is the final weekend of the two-week Los Alamitos December meeting. Santa Anita begins its winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.

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