BAFFERT DIRECTS SPIELBERG TO LOS AL FUTURITY WIN

Spielberg edged pacesetter The Great One bya nose in the $200,500 Los Alamitos Futurity on Saturday, giving Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his seventh straight victory in the Grade II race.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Spielberg ran 11⁄16 miles in 1:42.56 and paid $5.80 to win as the 19-10 second choice in the field of six.

The 2-year-old colt overcame a two-length deficit in the final eighth of a mile to prevail. Spielberg has two wins in six career starts and earnings of $257,200.

“Now we can start thinking (Kentucky) Derby,” Baffert said.

The Great One was 33-1 and is still a maiden.

Baffert has won every edition of the Futurity since it was moved to the Orange County track in 2014 after Hollywood Park in Inglewood closed. In all, Baffert has won the race 13 times.

Soccer

Lionel Messi has another individual scoring milestone, but he sure doesn’t have a team that looks like a champion.

Messi equaled Pele’s alltime club scoring tally in a 2-2 draw with Valencia. His 643rd career goal for Barcelona since his 2004 debut matched Pele’s tally for Santos from 1957-74.

It’s like the clock has been wound back 35 years with Liverpool and Everton as the English league frontrunners. Seeing Liverpool at the top of the Premier League is a more familiar sight. A 7-0 rout of Crystal Palace was the type of ruthless attacking display that helped Jurgen Klopp end the team’s 30-year title drought last season.

Everton hasn’t won the league since 1985 and 1987 when it sandwiched a runner-up season to its neighbor. A 2-1 victory over Arsenal was Everton’s third success in eight days, taking Carlo Ancelotti’s side up to second, five points behind the champions. Everton can be overtaken by either Tottenham or Leicester, who meet today.

LAFC advanced to the

CONCACAF Champions League final with a 3-1 victory over Club America.

Samantha Mewis is the 2020 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year. Mewis, a 6-foot midfielder, garnered 45 percent of the vote. Crystal Dunn finished second and Lindsey Horan third.

NBA

The NBA fined Washington Wizards center Thomas Bryant $45,000 for repeatedly making inappropriate contact with an official. Bryant, who received a technical foul as part of the incident, was aggressively attempting to confront Pistons forward Blake Griffin, who had committed a Flagrant Foul 1 against Bryant on the play.

NHL

The NHL is preparing for a pandemic-altered regular season limited to divisional play while trying to determine if the league’s seven Canadian teams will be allowed to play in their country.

Taxi squads also are coming back as part of a tentative return-to-play plan reached Friday, and at least one team won’t be opening its season at home.

The San Jose Sharks will open training camp and start the regular season in Arizona, a person with knowledge of discussions told The Associated Press.

Also

The San Diego State women’s basketball team (2-5), playing without two starters, dropped a nonconference game to visiting UC Irvine (2-3) 66-55.

Major League Baseball payrolls plunged to $1.75 billion during the pandemicshortened season from $4.22 billion, and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers led with $98.6 million — the smallest for the top spender in 20 years. The Padres were sixth overall at $76.3 million.

The 2021 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race will be about 140 miles (225 kilometers) shorter than normal as a result of complications stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.