The final round of Kentucky Derby prep races begins on Saturday with a major stop on the road to Louisville: the 2025 Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Annually one of the most important prep races, the Louisiana Derby 2025 will award Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 100-50-25-15-10 basis, guaranteeing the winner and most likely the runner-up a spot in the starting gate in the Run for the Roses on the first Saturday in May. Sam F. Davis Stakes winner John Hancock is the 7-2 favorite in the 2025 Louisiana Derby odds. Built (4-1), Caldera (5-1) and Instant Replay (6-1) round out the top four horses according to oddsmakers in the 10-horse 2025 Louisiana Derby field. Post time for the $1 million race is 6:42 p.m. ET.

With talented but inexperienced 3-year-old horses set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you'll want to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and insider Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2025 Louisiana Derby picks.

Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.

Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager three years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.

Last year, she correctly called National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup, predicted Stronghold's upset win in the Santa Anita Derby and smashed the exacta in the Apple Blossom Handicap. On the Belmont Stakes undercard, she nailed National Treasure's win in the Met Mile and had the winner and exacta in the Woody Stephens Stakes. She closed out the year by hitting the exacta in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

She started off 2025 by correctly going all-in on Citizen Bull to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, and she also predicted Forever Young's win in the $20 million Saudi Cup and Journalism's win in the San Felipe Stakes this year. Anyone who has followed her is way up.

For the 2025 Louisiana Derby, Yu has made her picks and constructed her bets. One surprise: Yu's top pick is not John Hancock, even though he is the 7-2 favorite. "There are other speed horses in this race, and he is likely to face a pace scenario that he hasn't seen yet," Yu told Sportsline. Yu prefers two horses over John Hancock.

Instead, Yu is focusing her wagers around a longshot who "has done nothing but show up on race day." She is including this horse in her 2025 Louisiana Derby bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see her picks before locking in any of your own.

So what longshot wins the 2025 Louisiana Derby? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2025 Louisiana Derby picks, all from the racing insider who nailed the Breeders' Cup Classic and hit the winners of the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, Saudi Cup and San Felipe Stakes this year!