“It’s exciting to win the Haskell. It’s a race where every year when I’m (evaluating) my 2-year-olds I always try to figure out who’s going to be my Haskell horse,” Baffert, who has won a record nine Haskells, said by phone from his Southern California base. “The reason we’ve always been so successful there is because I always bring my best horses there. You need to do that if you’re going to win that race.”

Arabian Knight graduated from the maiden ranks with a dazzling gate-to-wire performance on the undercard of last November’s Breeders’ Cup, and for an encore made every pole a winning one in the 1 1/16 miles Southwest Stakes (Grade 3) at Oaklawn Park in his only other start on Jan. 28. The combined margin of victory was 12¾ lengths.

Hall of Fame ride John Velazquez has the mount.

Arabian Knight has posted eight recorded works since May 29, including five moves at six or seven furlongs. Most recently, he worked six in a bullet 1:11 at Santa Anita July 15.

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“The layoff freshened him up,” said Baffert. “He’s doing really well. He’s pretty fit. I think he’s ready for the mile and an eighth and it’s going to be a tough race, but he’s trained well.”

Mage, the Kentucky Derby winner, is, at 3-1, co-second choice along with Tapit Trice. Mage finished third as the favorite in the Preakness at Pimlico, felled by a paceless race that enabled National Treasure to register a front-running score.

Ramiro Restrepo, a co-owner of the Kentucky Derby winner and third-place Preakness Stakes finisher last out, said he and trainer Gustavo Delgado are not concerned about Mage’s lack of favoritism, or the nine-week layoff.

“I believe the horse’s entire body of work and his entire career is what defines him. It’s not just one race,” Restrepo said. “He had a great break. It’s the start of the second half of his 3-year-old year. We feel he’s good enough to compete and put forth a quality effort. Hopefully, that’s good enough to get the job done and put forth a great performance and keep it moving.

“We’re happy we have a talented horse who’s feeling good, and we hope he’ll give a great account of himself Saturday.”

Javier Castellano will ride Mage, who will break from the four-hole.

Beyond Tapit Trice, the winner of the Grade 1 Bluegrass, three others are in single digits. They are Geaux Rocket Ride (9-2), two-for-three in his career for trainer Richard Mandella; Extra Anejo (5-1), two-for-three in his brief career for trainer Steve Asmussen; and Salute the Stars (8=1), winner of the Pegasus, a local prep, for trainer Brad Cox.

Rounding out the field are Awesome Strong (30-1) and Howgreatisnate (20-1).

In Baffert’s assessment, “This is a very tough race and there are some good horses in there. You’ve got the Derby winner (Mage) and that will make it an exciting race. Extra Anejo is a superstar kind of horse. The (Brad Cox) horse that won the race before (the Pegasus prep) that got left (at the gate, Salute the Stars) is pretty impressive. Geaux Rocket Ride is another who’s a good horse and could win. I think they got a great field.

“You’re going to have to bring your ‘A’ game to win.”

The Haskell is the 12^th on a 14-race card.