He is the leader of the California 2-year-old division, the only graded stakes winner in Sunday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, and has earned the highest Beyer Speed Figure achieved by a juvenile this year. Prince of Monaco is unbeaten in two starts, a record widely expected to increase to three when he starts as a heavy favorite in the $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on Sunday. An expected win would propel Prince of Monaco closer to the major stakes of the fall, notably the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 3 at Santa Anita. “He should have a bright future,” jockey Flavien Prat said Friday. Prince of Monaco, who races for a massive partnership that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stable, and Stonestreet Stable, is trained by Bob Baffert, who has won the Del Mar Futurity an astonishing 16 times since 1996, including three of the last five runnings. The Del Mar Futurity is the leading race on Sunday’s closing day of the track’s summer meeting. First post time is 1:30 p.m. Pacific. There is one other stakes on the program, the Grade 3 Del Mar Juvenile Turf at a mile, the day’s seventh race. :: DRF's 2023 Del Mar headquarters: Previews, past performances, picks, recaps, news, and more. There is a mandatory payout in the 20-cent jackpot pick six, which consists of the sixth through 11 races. Prince of Monaco drew the rail in the Del Mar Futurity and is part of a field of seven. By Speightstown, Prince of Monaco won a maiden race by eight lengths on July 8 at Los Alamitos in his debut and the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes at six furlongs on Aug. 13 by 4 1/4 lengths. Prat rode Prince of Monaco for the first time in the Best Pal Stakes. Prince of Monaco earned a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. “He’s very straightforward,” Prat said. “For a horse that had run one time, he was very professional.” Prince of Monaco closed from fourth in a field of five from an outside post to take the lead in early stretch in the Best Pal, quickly drawing away. “He broke out of the gate like he would be forwardly placed,” Prat said. “The pace was pretty hot that day. He was further back than I would have expected him to be. He was traveling well. He showed up when it was time to.” But an inside post is not an ideal starting position Sunday. “It’s never the best draw,” Prat said. “At some point, he’s going to have to face adversity.” The Del Mar Futurity field includes Raging Torrent, a well-beaten third in the Best Pal; the maiden race winners Mary’s Boy Bolt and Rothschild; the maidens Mirahmadi and Next Level; and the two-time Wyoming stakes winner Valiant Knight. Raging Torrent and Rothschild will have their third starts of the Del Mar summer meeting on Sunday. They were first and fifth in a maiden race on July 23 in their first starts. Raging Torrent lost the Best Pal Stakes by 8 3/4 lengths and a faces a tough job to get closer to Prince of Monaco in the Del Mar Futurity. Similar to Prince of Monaco, Raging Torrent races from off the pace. “You hope he gets a little better with each start,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He’s acting like he’s more mature than he was a few weeks ago.” Raging Torrent started from the rail in the Best Pal Stakes and has post 4 on Sunday. “Switching posts is a benefit for us,” O’Neill said. “We’re hoping he’s moving forward. “He’s built and looks like a mile-and-a-quarter horse. It’s been cool to see what he’s doing early on at these shorter distances. As we add more ground, we’ll see more impressive results.” Rothschild rebounded from the loss on July 23 to win a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs by 5 1/4 lengths on Aug. 25, leading throughout. Rothschild, who will be ridden by Ramon Vazquez, could be part of the pace from post 5 on Sunday. “That will be up to our rider,” trainer Tim Yakteen said. “With our draw, he’s not going to have to commit one way or another.” :: Get Del Mar Clocker Reports straight from the morning workouts at the track. Available every race day.  Early race tactics are not Yakteen’s major concern. He has watched Baffert develop Prince of Monaco in the last few months. “You’re taking on the grandmaster with 16 wins in the race,” he said. “We have a good draw and, fingers crossed, we’ll have things possibly go our way. “You can only prepare your horse and focus on yourself, so you can be there in case someone else makes a mistake.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.