Prince of Monaco joins lofty Beyer company with a 103

DEL MAR, Calif. – Prince of Monaco’s blazingly quick win in Sunday’s Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds at Del Mar was fast enough to merit a lofty Beyer Speed Figure of 103, the highest of the year in the nation for a juvenile.

Benefiting from an ideal trip, Prince of Monaco ($5.60) closed from fourth in a field of five to win the six-furlong race in 1:09.19, the fastest time for the distance at the current Del Mar meeting, which began July 21.

Since the beginning of 2018, only two juveniles have had higher Beyer Speed Figures than Prince of Monaco. Cave Rock and Speed Boat Beach earned figures of 104 last year.

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Like Prince of Monaco, they are trained by Bob Baffert. Cave Rock reached that figure with a win in the Grade 1 American Pharoah Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita last September. Speed Boat Beach earned a 104 for a win in a maiden race at 5 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar that same month.

To win Sunday’s $200,000 Best Pal Stakes, Prince of Monaco caught stablemate Muth, the 1-2 favorite who tussled through a fast early pace before yielding the lead.

Ridden by Flavien Prat, Prince of Monaco pulled clear to win by 4 1/4 lengths. Unbeaten in two starts, Prince of Monaco was the easy winner of a maiden race at Los Alamitos last month.

Prince of Monaco was Baffert’s 10th career win in the Best Pal Stakes, a record.

Having strength in numbers helped Baffert in the Best Pal with Muth in front and Prince of Monaco stalking the pace.

“I was hoping Muth would lay off,” Baffert said. “I saw what Prat was doing, taking back. I like the way [Prince of Monaco] responded.”

Prince of Monaco and Muth are likely to run in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity at seven furlongs Sept. 10, a race Baffert has won a record 16 times. They could be joined by Heartland, a maiden race winner July 29, and Pastor T, a maiden race winner on Saturday.

Pastor T closed from fourth of seven while pulling away to win a race at 5 1/2 furlongs by 4 1/4 lengths.

“It was too short,” Baffert said. “He was just getting going at the end.”

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