CYPRESS, Calif. - Litmus Test will start his 2026 campaign in coming months as one of California’s leading 3-year-old prospects, a status confirmed by his win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity. There were signs in recent months that he would easily rise to that level. Litmus Test won for the second time in his fifth start in the Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles, and gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a record 15th victory in the race – six at Hollywood Park before the track’s closure in 2013, and nine at Los Alamitos since 2014. Litmus Test, who was ridden by Juan Hernandez, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 96, which equals 2018 winner Improbable as the highest among Baffert’s winners of the race at Los Alamitos. “He’s getting better and the way he’s bred he’s going to get better with age,” Baffert said in the winner’s circle. “He’s a horse we’ve always been very high on. He has the pedigree and everything.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Owned by a partnership that includes SF Racing, Madaket Stable, and Starlight Racing, Litmus Test is by Nyquist, the sire of millionaires Immersive, Johannes, Nysos, Randomized, Slow Down Andy and Vequist, all successful around two turns. Litmus Test is out of Study Hard, by Malibu Moon, who was winless in three starts. She is a full sister to the four-time stakes winner Sweet August Moon, who thrived in sprints. Litmus Test won his debut in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 16 and then lost his next three starts in Grade 1 stakes. After finishing fourth in the Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs on Sept. 7, Litmus Test was beaten by division leader Ted Noffey in his next two races, both at 1 1/16 miles – a third by five lengths in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 4, and a fourth by 1 3/4 lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Oct. 31. “He ran better today than in the Breeders’ Cup,” Baffert said on Saturday. “In the Breeders’ Cup he was just getting going at the end.” Litmus Test was Baffert’s first win in the Los Alamitos Futurity since Wynstock in 2023. Wynstock won the Los Alamitos Derby in 2024, and now races in New York, where he was claimed for $45,000 by trainer Brad Cox at Aqueduct on Dec. 4. Journalism won the 2024 Los Alamitos Futurity for trainer Michael McCarthy, and was one of the star 3-year-olds this year, winning the Preakness Stakes and finishing second in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes in the spring. Overall, Baffert’s winners of the Los Alamitos Futurity have had success later in their careers. Dortmund won the 2014 Los Alamitos Futurity and the 2015 Santa Anita Derby before finishing third to stablemate American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby that year. The 2015 Los Alamitos Futurity was the first of five stakes wins for Mor Spirit. Mastery started once after winning the 2016 Los Alamitos Futurity. He won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita three months later, but was vanned off and never raced again. McKinzie was promoted from second to first in the 2017 Los Alamitos Futurity and won six more stakes through his career. Improbable’s victory in the 2018 Los Alamitos Futurity was the second of his six stakes wins. Thousand Words had two stakes wins as a 3-year-old in 2020 after winning the 2019 Los Alamitos Futurity. The 2020 Los Alamitos Futurity was the only stakes win for Spielberg. On Saturday, Baffert swept the top three positions in the Los Alamitos Futurity with the maiden Blacksmith finishing second and the maiden-race winner Provenance running third. Provenance set the pace and was caught by a stalking Litmus Test in early stretch. Blacksmith closed from fourth to finish 1 1/4 lengths behind Litmus Test in his first start at 1 1/16 miles. “Blacksmith is figuring it out,” Baffert said. “He ran a big race.” After watching Saturday’s race, Baffert is confident Litmus Test will excel at distances longer than 1 1/16 miles. “Down the backside he looked like he was traveling easy,” Baffert said. “Juan said the farther, the better for him.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.