SARATOGA SPRINGS – When one of Bob Baffert’s horses is doing well, the Hall of Fame trainer expects a big effort.

For this reason “TDN Rising Star” Prince of Monaco (Speightstown) has made his second cross-country trip in the last two months, so he’s here in Saratoga right now, preparing for his run on Saturday in the $500,000 GI Allen Jerkens Memorial.

“It’s a tough race, there are no easy spots,” Baffert said by phone from his summer home in Del Mar, Calif. “Any Grade I race, especially at Saratoga, is tough.”

Prince of Monaco is the second choice on the morning line at 4:1, just behind Book’em Danno (Bucchero), who is 7-2. Book’em Danno trainer Derek Ryan also entered his gelding in Friday night’s $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial purse at Charles Town.

Book’em Danno has won his last two races, including the GI Woody Stephens on June 8 at Saratoga, when he beat Prince of Monaco by half a length.

“Oh, that’s a tough field,” Baffert said, then joked, “I think half the field should go to Charles Town.”

In the Woody Stephens, the Prince of Monaco got off to a slow start and got tangled up before making a strong run at the end to finish second.

He was making his first start since finishing fifth in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita in November.

“I can get them back in shape after a break,” Baffert said. “When you have a horse like this that you know has so much quality and brilliance, I like to pick exciting races for him. They will run just as hard in an allowance race as they will in a stakes race.”

A new addition to the Prince of Monaco’s Jerkens is the rider. Hall of Famer John Velazquez will ride him for the first time after Flavien Prat, who had ridden him in his last four starts, opted for a different rider.

Prat had the choice of riding one of four horses in the Jerkens and chose the one trained by Chad Brown. Domestic product (Pranks).

“There are so many good drivers there,” said Baffert. “Finding a top driver there is easy.”

Prince of Monaco was purchased for $950,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Yearling Sale and is owned by SF Racing and Partners.

Baffert also said: The National Shrine (Quality Road) would likely be slated for the GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile rather than the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. He made his first appearance since finishing sixth as favorite in the GI Whitney Stakes on Tuesday, running four furlongs at Del Mar in :48.00 (3/8).

His 3-year-old “TDN Rising Star” Muth (Good Magic), who has not raced since winning the GI Arkansas Derby on March 30, could compete in the GI Pacific Classic at Del Mar on August 31. Baffert said he could also race the 4-year-old reincarnation (Good magic) at this point.

It all depends on how they work this weekend, Baffert said.

Maybe the hood will help honor Marie while trying to anger Travers

The road to the Triple Crown was bumpy for Marie-Honor (Code of Honor).

Next up is the $1.25 million GI Travers Stakes, and trainer Whit Beckman will be trying something different. When Honor Marie and jockey Tyler Gaffalione line up in Saturday’s Midsummer Derby, he will be wearing blinkers for the first time.

“Hopefully with the blinkers he can be a little more responsive in the early stages of the race,” Beckman said outside his barn on the Oklahoma training track. “He’s been running very well with them. We just want to help him focus. Normally when you ask him to go forward it takes him a minute.”

Honor Marie, owned by Ribble Farms LLC, Michael H. Eiserman, Earl I. Silver, Kenneth E. Fishbein and Dave Fishbein, last finished fourth in the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 8. He did not get off to a particularly good start there and was bumped right at the start. He had previously given up all hope early in the GI Kentucky Derby, where he was hard-pressed at the start but still finished eighth among the 20 horses.

Beckman is not surprised that Honor Marie is 20-1 on the morning line – he shares those odds with Fasten the battens (Tapit) – and that he has the highest odds in the Travers odds.

“He’s always been one of those horses that’s been under the radar,” Beckman said. “The sales tax on (7-2) Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) was double the price of this horse.”

Sierra Leone went for $2.3 million, Honor Marie cost $40,000.

“He just comes along without doing anything to get attention, which is cool for us,” Beckman said. “He’s just one of those horses that shows up. His trips have been terrible. I guarantee if that had happened to another trainer, a trainer who’s louder, they’d be crying all day. I’m not one of those guys that whines and complains about spilled milk. It is what it is, and we’re going to suit up and try again.”

Casse will return to Woodbine, but this time he will fly

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will have to wait a little longer to see if he can win the prestigious $1 million King’s Plate at Woodbine Racetrack.

The race, the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown and the oldest annual stakes race in North America, was originally scheduled for last Saturday but was cancelled due to torrential rain.

It will air on Friday (5:34 p.m. post time).

“I’m flying,” Casse said Wednesday morning as he watched horses train at the main track in Saratoga. “I’m not driving this time.”

Casse and his wife, Tina, drove the seven and a half hours from Saratoga and then turned around and returned home on Sunday. While he was in Toronto, Casse did some work.

He will enter three horses in the King’s Plate, including the favourite, My Boy Prince (Cairo Prince), last year’s Canadian Two-Year-Old Champion.

On Sunday he trained with the colt and his other King’s Plate runners: Essex Snake (Code of Honor) and Midnight Mascot (Army mule).

“I called an audible on Sunday,” Casse said. “Our horses haven’t been running that well in a while. I don’t think (the cancellation of the race to Friday) is going to be a factor.”

Casse said he wouldn’t let the cancellation bother him, but he felt sorry for everyone else.

“Gary Barber (the owner of My Boy Prince) flew me in (from California),” Casse said. “Woodbine worked so hard to make it a great day. They had the Prime Minister (Justin Trudeau) there. I feel sorry for all those people. Don’t feel sorry for me. As long as everyone is safe, I’m not going to get too worked up about all that stuff.”

Casse said he would fly to Canada on Friday and then return to Saratoga on Friday night.

“The problem is that if I drive for seven hours, I’m stealing time from work. I have to come back here because Saturday is very busy.”

Casse has entered four horses for the Travers Day, including Fullscreen (Big Screen) in GI Forego and Little Ni (Mohaymen) at the GI Allen Jerkens Memorial.