Horses to Watch: New juvenile star emerges for Baffert

New to the watch list

Prince of Monaco

Sold for $950,000 as a yearling, Prince of Monaco has started his racing career with a bang, going 2-for-2 under the care of trainer Bob Baffert. The son of Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Speightstown was tons the best in a five-furlong maiden special weight on July 9 at Los Alamitos, dueling for the early lead before powering clear to win by eight lengths in 57.21 seconds.

Prince of Monaco was even sharper in the six-furlong Best Pal (G3) at Del Mar last Sunday. After settling five lengths behind a fast opening quarter-mile in 21.76 seconds, Prince of Monaco advanced through half a mile in 44.76 seconds, took over through five furlongs in 56.90 seconds and sprinted his final furlong in a strong 12.29 seconds to dominate by 4 1/4 lengths.

Prince of Monaco’s final time was 1:09.19 seconds, translating to a lofty 103 Beyer Speed Figure from the Daily Racing Form. At this point, Prince of Monaco has to be viewed as the horse to beat in next month’s Del Mar Futurity (G1), a race Baffert has won 16 times since 1996.

Upcoming entries

Fandom

A Great Britain-bred juvenile conditioned by Wesley Ward, Fandom started his career on a high note, wiring a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight over the Keeneland turf course by 6 3/4 lengths. He led by daylight at every call and was hardly urged at all down the homestretch.

Fandom failed to replicate this performance when shipping to England for the Coventry (G2) at Royal Ascot; against that deep 20-horse field, Fandom finished 11th. But the son of Showcasing can bounce back while returning to the U.S. and dropping in class for Friday’s eighth race at Saratoga, the Skidmore (post time 4:58 p.m. EDT). Ward has won two of the last three editions of this race, stamping Fandom as a key win threat.

Salimah

Salimah showed promise as a 3-year-old last season, winning three of her five starts for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. She was particularly impressive in the 1 1/16-mile Winter Memories at Aqueduct, charging home on top by three lengths over next-out Tropical Park Oaks winner Candy Light.

Salimah recently kicked off her 4-year-old campaign with a sharp 1 1/2-length victory in an $80,000 allowance optional claimer racing 1 1/16 miles at Saratoga. She counted among her beaten rivals the next-out winner Kalifornia Queen, a Group 2 winner in Germany who has placed five times against graded stakes competition in North America.

With this sharp season opener under her belt, Salimah looms as a formidable contender in Sunday’s ninth race at Woodbine, the Dance Smartly (G2, post time 4:58 p.m.). She’ll have to reckon with a deep field led by record-breaking 2022 Queen’s Plate winner Moira, but Salimah still has upside for improvement and can’t be counted out of the mix.

Off the watch list

Modern Games

The 2021 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and 2022 Breeders’ Cup Mile winner has been retired from racing. A French classic winner, Modern Games won five Grade or Group 1 races in four countries across three seasons. Here’s hoping he enjoys a productive stud career.

Which horses do you have your eyes on?

In this biweekly series, racing analyst J. Keeler Johnson shares promising horses from his handicapping watch list, reviewing runners who have recently caught his eye and previewing horses scheduled to run back in the near future.