The Irish-bred Master of The Seas is based in England during the summer and Dubai during the winter, but it’s in North America that he has made his mark. Master of The Seas showed up last September in Canada and dominated the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, and it took an awesome stretch run from America’s best grass horse of 2023, Up to the Mark, to beat Master of The Seas a nose last October at Keeneland in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile. Master of The Seas roared back a month later and won the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Now 6, Master of The Seas is a gelding and will race as long as he holds high-level form. Trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin, he’s back in America to launch his 2024 campaign Friday at Keeneland in the Grade 1, $600,000 Maker’s Mark Mile. Master of The Seas is a reasonable 4-5 on the morning line in a race that drew eight but will go with fewer. Du Jour, trainer Bob Baffert said, didn’t ship from California, and trainer Chad Brown might scratch Equitize. The Maker’s Mark Mile will be contested over wet turf: How wet depends on just how much rain falls. Wednesday’s grass races were moved to a sloppy main track and precipitation could continue all the way into Friday’s program. Master of The Seas, with owner Godolphin’s top jockey, William Buick, named to ride, is a top-of-the-ground horse. He has made nearly all his starts over courses rated good or firm and thrived last year in America because he loves fast going. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Lightning-quick Santa Anita suited him, Master of The Seas running the best race of his career to catch another Godolphin horse, the filly Mawj, in the last jump. Master of The Seas not only was giving Mawj six pounds, he broke from the outside post 13, came from 11th at the stretch call, and blitzed his final quarter-mile in 22.12 seconds. It’s just not possible to produce that kind of acceleration over sodden turf, and it’s uncertain how Master of The Seas would cope with such a course. It’s also worth thinking back to last year’s Maker’s Mark Mile, where the Appleby-trained Modern Games, making his first start since winning the 2022 BC Mile, was a well-beaten second at 2-5. Godolphin and Appleby have a second runner, Naval Power, who also appears to prefer firmer footing. The 4-year-old gelding missed about 13 months of racing before returning Feb. 23 in the 1 1/8-mile Singspiel Stakes at Meydan, where he rallied stoutly from midpack to win going away over 13 moderate rivals. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount. Integration has high-level ability and upside, and had no chance to win the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Turf, his first start at age 4, considering his trip. An easy and eye-catching winner of his first three races, Integration came into the homestretch of the Pegasus ready to kick home but never had a chance to run. After coming off the rail he found his path blocked, and a second move farther outside offered no clear passage, either. Integration only found room in the final half-furlong and immediately accelerated. “Once he got loose, he finished real good, and he’s trained well since then,” trainer Shug McGaughey said. McGaughey said the Pegasus hadn’t originally been on Integration’s schedule and that the Maker’s Mark Mile, Integration’s first start over a distance as short as one mile, is a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at 1 1/8 miles next month at Churchill Downs. McGaughey doesn’t mind running Integration on a course with some give to it, but Integration would not be a certain starter, he said, if things get too wet. Shirl’s Speight won the 2022 Maker’s Mark Mile on a good course, but the 7-year-old, eighth with a favorable trip in the BC Mile, might not be quite the same now. Finishing a close eighth in the Pegasus Turf, he did race wide without cover on both turns before fading through the final furlong. Emmanuel, yet another horse lacking form on softer ground, hasn’t won above the Grade 3 level as an older horse and was seventh in the 2023 Maker’s Mark Mile. :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Kubrick, a French import, aced his North American debut for owner-breeder Peter Brant and trainer Chad Brown on March 1 at Tampa Bay. Kubrick overwhelmed high-end allowance rivals with a strong final quarter-mile, winning by 3 1/4 lengths while mainly being hand-ridden. “He was highly regarded but had some issues when he arrived here,” Brown said. “He’s got a good turn of foot and had the perfect prep at Tampa. He should move forward, but it’s a tough race.” At age 2, Kubrick won a Group 3 in France over a soft course, form that could become pertinent in the Maker’s Mark Mile. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.