Back when Bob Baffert was permitted to race at Churchill Downs, you’d have said, as the calendar turned over to February, that Arabian Knight was his best Derby hope. Baffert has won the Derby six times. He’s won the Haskell Stakes nine times. And Saturday at Monmouth Park, it’s Kentucky Derby winner Mage and six others standing between Arabian Knight and a 10th Haskell for Baffert. Arabian Knight has made two starts since his owner, Amr Zedan, paid $2.3 million for him at a 2-year-old sale. Connections picked out the first race on the second day of the Breeders’ Cup last November at Keeneland for the colt’s debut, and Arabian Knight lived up to odds-on favoritism, crushing a decent field in a seven-furlong maiden race. His second race came over a sloppy track Jan. 28 at Oaklawn in the Southwest Stakes, where Arabian Knight set a strong pace, turned back a challenge in midstretch, and rolled to a 5 1/2-length win. :: Bet with the Best! Get Free DRF PPs and Cashback when you wager. Join DRF Bets. Because of Churchill Downs Inc.’s ban on Baffert for a medication violation with 2021 Derby winner Medina Spirit, Arabian Knight at the time, like a king without a country, was a horse without a Derby. The colt, by Uncle Mo, posted an official work Feb. 13 at Santa Anita, two more in early March, but didn’t work again until May 29. Since then, Arabian Knight, like clockwork, has breezed seven times over a total of 44 furlongs – 5 1/2 miles. Baffert was asked Wednesday if Arabian Knight had sufficient conditioning after a break of nearly six months. “I think he’s pretty fit.” Baffert said. Of course he is. Unlike most young Baffert-trained horses, Arabian Knight doesn’t race or work in blinkers; he’s raced in a shadow roll but doesn’t breeze in one. Clearly, he’s a generous work horse. All his major Haskell work came solo save his final drill July 15, when Arabian Knight broke off some 15 lengths behind a maiden named Chay’s Tornado before blowing past him at the sixteenth pole. Arabian Knight won’t have much of anything to run at Saturday. He drew post 8 under John Velazquez and should be a forward factor from the jump. Fitness questions could better be directed toward Mage, who runs for the first time since a third-place finish May 20 in the Preakness. Tucked away at The Thoroughbred Center in the rural northeast corner of Lexington, Ky., Mage for 17 days after the Preakness wasn’t so much as tacked up. He has posted but four official breezes since the Preakness, the first so slow as to barely qualify as a work. Trained by Gustavo Delgado Sr., Mage wasn’t confirmed for the Haskell until Tuesday. His connections have cold-watered his win chances. The Travers at Saratoga is their main goal, the Haskell a prep, they say. “It’s five weeks to the Travers. It’s just time to get the summer rolling,” part owner Ramiro Restrepo said. “I don’t think anyone should be afraid to lose a race. Obviously, we’d be happy to win.” Mage’s performance in the Kentucky Derby would make him a clear contender, but no cinch in this strong Haskell. Mage got a great pace setup in the Derby, which helped him reel in pace-compromised runner-up Two Phil’s, but Mage was traveling strongly his entire Derby trip and looked like the winner a long way out. The Preakness, a messy, slow-paced race, unfolded less favorably. After a tricky trip, Mage still had a chance at the three-sixteenths pole but just two weeks after the race of his life was outrun to the wire by National Treasure and Blazing Sevens, two fresh horses. Mage gave Javier Castellano his first Derby win, and Castellano is back aboard Saturday. The Haskell’s other Triple Crown participant is Tapit Trice, seventh in the Derby, third in the Belmont. His trainer, Todd Pletcher, toyed with running Belmont runner-up Forte in the Haskell before choosing the Jim Dandy at Saratoga. Tapit Trice “came out of the Belmont with really, really good energy,” Pletcher said. Luis Saez rides Tapit Trice for the sixth time in a row and knows what he’s in for. Tapit Trice, an imposing colt by Tapit, falls out of the gate and lacks positional pace, and Saez has to ride the colt vigorously just to keep him in the game. Tapit Trice made a very wide Belmont bid on the turn and nearly made the lead with five-sixteenths of a mile left to race before flattening out, then putting forth one final surge. He needs a strong pace and, on the surface, seems like a horse better suited to Belmont than Monmouth’s short homestretch. Awesome Strong should be 70-1 and pace factor Howgreatisnate 30-1, but the other three – Geaux Rocket Ride, Extra Anejo, and Salute the Stars – merit attention. Salute the Stars looks least likely among the trio, but that’s far from certain. Trained for the last two of his four starts by Brad Cox, who has won the last two Haskells, Salute the Stars is 2 for 2 on dirt. After an off-turf allowance-race win May 14 at Churchill, he captured the Pegasus at Monmouth, running down Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns from a seemingly hopeless position at the three-sixteenths pole. Trainer Richard Mandella showed great confidence in Geaux Rocket Ride running him in the San Felipe off a mere debut maiden win and shows more by shipping the colt to Monmouth following a workmanlike victory June 5 in the Affirmed Stakes. Mandella hasn’t run a horse at Monmouth since 2003. He won with his only Haskell starter, Dixie Union, in 2000. “He’s a colt that’s done more than we’ve asked him all the time, so we have a lot of high hopes,” Mandella said. “He does everything so smart I think he can handle this.” Geaux Rocket Ride, who has been working with aplomb at Santa Anita, will show speed from post 1 under Mike Smith. And expect Extra Anejo to be forwardly placed making his first start beyond one mile. Trainer Steve Asmussen, Winchell Thoroughbreds, and anyone who has seen this powerful, gorgeous colt run hold Extra Anejo in high esteem. It’s not implausible that his stakes debut could produce a Grade 1 win. “It’s the perfect spot for him. We’ve built him up to this,” Asmussen said. “He’s a physically impressive horse who carries himself with a tremendous amount of confidence.” The Haskell, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In race offering automatic fees-paid entry into the BC Classic, is the 12th of 14 races on a stakes-laden card that begins at noon Eastern. Post time for the Haskell is 5:45 p.m. The Derby winner is back. He’s found a tough spot. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.