Yes He's the Man ships in

A $60,000 purse is enough to lure from Calder Race Course to Monmouth Park, where he starts Saturday in the Select Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong race restricted to 3-year-olds. And in Yes He's the Man, the Select has almost certainly found its favorite.

Six were entered in the Select, which goes as race 5, and the field as a whole is at least decent. Three-time winner Rainbow Inthestorm looks like a dead send from the rail, and his early speed suits the Select's short trip. , another three-time winner, has a nice little stretch burst that could work well if Rainbow Inthestorm and outside-drawn Carvajal hook up on a hectic pace.

But it is going to be tough to get past Yes He's the Man. The favorite is here because there's no suitable upcoming race for him at Calder, said trainer Dave Braddy.

"Monmouth has several stakes for 3-year-olds, and we didn't really have anything here until the Carry Back," Braddy said. "The horse is good now, so rather than sit still, we decided to send him up there."

The $300,000 Carry Back on July 15 is one of the nation's best 3-year-old sprints, and Yes He's the Man might well be of that quality. He won his career debut and an entry-level allowance during a two-start December at Calder, and has an excuse for his lone loss, a ninth in the Grade 2 Swale on March 4 at Gulfstream Park. That race was won by Sharp Humor, who took Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro to the wire in the Florida Derby.

"In that race, he just didn't break well; he got pinched off twice on the backside," Braddy said. "It was one of those races he had all kinds of trouble, and you can't do that against good horses."

Yes He's the Man came back April 28 with his best performance yet, a 5 1/4-length blowout in the Naked Greed, a $45,000 Calder stakes race. Yes He's the Man went to the lead from the rail on his way to that win, but Braddy said his horse also can settle and finish when circumstances call for it.

"I think he's a good horse, but time will tell," Braddy said.