By daylight or moonlight, Los Alamitos’ mix of Thoroughbred and American Quarter Horse showcases this weekend will be in the spotlight. Closing weekend of the Thoroughbred stand includes Saturday’s Grade 2 $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity – the race that springboarded 2025 Preakness winner Journalism to his sophomore stardom. Later that evening, the AQHA red carpet rolls out under the lights for the Grade 1 $700,000 Champion of Champions, the shortline game’s annual Who’s Who with world title implications. And to cap it off, Sunday’s Los Alamitos 2 Million Futurity will be the state’s richest AQHA race of the year.
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Los Alamitos: $200,000 Los Alamitos Futurity | Saturday, Race 8 | Post Time 4:00 pm PT
Trainer Bob Baffert’s 14 Los Al Futurity wins tower over the record book, but his 1 victory in the last 4 editions peeks the door open. Granted, it has taken top-class colts like Slow Down Andy, Practical Move and Journalism to derail the Baffert locomotive in this race. Baffert saddles 3 of the 6 entrants Saturday, including Breeders’ Cup Juvenile fourth-place finisher Litmus Test; the regally bred Into Mischief-Monomoy Girl colt Provenance; and two-start maiden Blacksmith, a $525K purchase who is out of a full-sister to the barn’s $3.6M sprinter Cezanne.
After chasing expected Champion 2-Year-Old Ted Noffey in his last 2, Litmus Test should find his 2-turn experience and classy running lines enough to prove best. Juan Hernandez is regular pilot of the other Bafferts entered and takes the seat here for what’s likely good reason. This Nyquist colt doesn’t strike me as a star for the Triple Crown next spring, so these winter stakes could be his best chance at making noise. The concern is that he’s been a bit flat late in 2-turn races and the marathon stretch at Los Alamitos can be a no man’s land for a hanger.
Doug O’Neill thwarted Baffert in the 2021 Los Al Futurity with Slow Down Andy and looks for rail-drawn Acknowledgemeplz for an encore. Expect rail speed from this son of Bucchero, who posted a fast sprint win at Santa Anita last out after a debut second in June to eventual stakes winner Desert Gate. This is probably the best recipe to beat Litmus Test – get in front of him from the start and make him prove that he wants to pass horses. I’ll make that the tepid play.
Captivator smashed maiden optional claimers by 10-plus lengths over the Del Mar main track November 8. He’ll stretch out from 6 furlongs while making his third lifetime start. He’s by the fleet Charlatan, and will take the blinkers off after setting the tempo in the sprint ranks. If he fails to keep Acknowledgemeplz honest, that one could get bold. Longshot maiden American King rounds out the field for Ruben Gomez.
Picks: Acknowledgemeplz, Litmus Test, Provenance, Captivator
Los Alamitos: $700,000 Champion of Champions | Saturday, Race 8 | Post Time 9:01 pm PT
Ten star-powered American Quarter Horses square off at the 440-yard classic distance. Runners aged 3 to 7 of both sexes make this one of the nation’s most interesting races of any breed – and the Champion of Champions rarely fails to deliver on its promise.
Veteran Empressum leaves from the rail in what’s become a rite of annual passage. The 2022 and 2024 Champion of Champions hero was runner-up here in 2023 or would be riding a 3-race win streak in the sport’s big one. But it’s his 3-race losing streak in 2025 that invites challenges to this throne; albeit second-place finishes by a nose, head and head. It’s not like the 39: 25-10-0 performer is ready to hand it over to his younger counterparts. The Oklahoma-bred has run first or second in an unthinkable 24 straight races, last missing an exacta in the 2021 All American Derby. The only 3-time Champion of Champions winner was the great Refrigerator from 1992-’94.
But 2-1 morning line favoritism goes to the 5-year-old Jeriko. He finished fourth in this race the past 2 years, including as the favorite a season ago. His November 16 victory in the Z. Wayne Griffin Director’s Stakes by a head over Empressum could have been the coming attractions. But that was 400 yards, and note Jeriko has won just 1 of his last 5 at 440 yards. He’ll be out in post 9, far away on the track from chief rival Empressum, which means the quality of competition around the two favorites may boost the aggression of the one most-challenged.
Stanley Cartel in post 4 might provide the target. He’s an outstanding breaker and has run races fast enough to play with anyone, witnessed by a wire-to-wire score in the Los Al Invitational Championship when holding Empressum and Jeriko slightly at bay. His 9-for-11 career mark, all at Los Al, leaves little to critique and he’s been freshened since October 11. The X-factor here is that trainer Luke Lindsey was forced into duty in recent days when former trainer Ramiro Castillo ran afoul with track management and forced to vacate the grounds. What’s the impact on Stanley Cartel? Anyone’s guess.
Longshot look to Hott Temptation in post 2. The 3-year-old filly breaks alongside Empressum and has made steady improvement throughout the year for high-percentage trainer Eddie D. Willis. Consider for the exotics with otherwise logical results expected.
The picks: Empressum, Jeriko, Hott Temptation, Stanley Cartel
Los Alamitos: $1,800,000 Los Al Two Million Futurity | Sunday
The 400-yard final for this juvenile showcase matches the 10 fastest qualifiers from 12 trials run November 23. In addition to handicapping the form of each contender, it’s wise in stakes finals like this to consider the trials results for both placement on the card and placement on the track. Conditions often make a particular portion of the racing program faster or slower, and track bias in AQHA racing is more about the inside or outside being faster than traditional Thoroughbred racing views.
Of the 10 fastest qualifiers, only 2 emerged from the first 4 trials, 5 from the middle 4 trials and 3 from the final 4 trials. Knowing that, give extra credit to the times put up by Hi Octane in Race 1 and Toby Sis in Race 2. In fact, those clockings stood up all evening as the second and third-fastest times overall. While Enforce was the trials’ fastest-qualifier, he did so in Race 8, part of what seemingly were the fastest conditions of the program.
By post positions, the 10 qualifiers saw 2 from the inside 3 posts (both rail), 5 from posts 4-7 and 3 from the outside posts 8-10 (all 8). The inside runners may have done a bit more work, a feather in the cap of AJ Remember Me and Enforce.
The $675,000 sales whopper Enforce won the Grade 1 Golden State Million Futurity in October and has steadily improved since summer. He’s a son of the star mare Remember Me Rose, the 2007 Ruidoso Derby winner and Texas Classic Derby runner-up. But I won’t take a short price as he’s 3-for-6 and failed to get out of all 3 trial sets this year in New Mexico before finding his stride of late.
Hi Octane is 3-for-7 and failed to get beyond the trials 5 times before his career-best effort in the Los Al 2 Million Futurity trials. Doubt we’ll see the 9-1 from that one. Toby Sis appeals most of the early-night qualifiers on trials day. This filly is 5: 4-1-0 lifetime and a neck from perfection. Toby Sis leaves from post 2 in the final, just outside of the also once-beaten Beutfeeful. The Kindergarten Futurity heroine’s only loss in 6 tries was after she broke through the starting gate in the Golden State Million Futurity final as the favorite and left her race in the prelims. If the inner-part of the track is good Sunday at Los Al, look out for an inside exacta.
The picks: Toby Sis, Beutfeeful, Enforce, Hi Octane.
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