SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The first thing you notice about trainer Mike Maker these days is that there is a lot less of him. About 60 pounds worth.“Not eating and a lot of walking,” Maker said when asked how he dropped the pounds.The slim and trim Maker is hoping that his 6-year-old gelding Ole Crazy Bone (Ghostzapper) is just as fit when he runs in Saturday's $250,000 GII Bowling Green at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday.Owned by Flying P Stable, Ole Crazy Bone is the 5-2 third choice on the morning line in the field of seven that will contest the 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf course.This will be the second start of the year for Ole Crazy Bone, who had a profitable 2025 that saw him win three of seven starts and bank $1,605,650. The bulk of that purse money came when he won the GII Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs last Aug. 3.His first-place prize that day brought him $1,446,300 but also brought him injury. Maker said Ole Crazy Bone exited that race with a chipped knee that landed him on the equine disabled list for three months.“We had to give him some time,” Maker said. “He was back in training by the first of the year.”He returned to the races May 21 at Churchill Downs and finished second in an allowance optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles.Ole Crazy Bone with Mike Maker's son Caden | Sarah Andrew“It wasn't an ideal distance for him, but he ran great against a tough field,” Maker said.The Bowling Green was always on the radar and now here he is. Ole Crazy Bone will be reunited with jockey Flavien Prat, who has only ridden him once. That came in the race at Kentucky Downs.If all goes well in the Bowling Green, Maker could see Ole Crazy Bone making another trip to Kentucky Downs this summer.Maker and Flying P Stable claimed Ole Crazy Bone last June and he has responded with a win and three seconds in four starts for the new connections.Now, back to Maker's weight loss. He said he started the program in January. For 45 days, he lived on protein shakes and began a daily regimen of walking six miles.Being a horse trainer doesn't give you much flexibility as to when to do that, but Maker made the time.“I walk over by my house,” Maker said. “I try to get six miles a day.”Benefits: he feels great, looks great, too. The negatives: he had to buy a whole new wardrobe. But that doesn't bother him one bit. Walden Bringing Filly for CCA OaksIn his relatively short career as a trainer, Will Walden has won a pair of Grade I races. He'll be shooting for No. 3 later this month when he sends La Rascasse (Authentic) to the 1 1/8-mile, GI, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga July 25.Walden, 35, who has been training since 2022, won his first two Grade Is with Rhetorical (Not This Time).La Rascasse last started in the Monomoy Girl Stakes at Churchill Downs June 13 and won by two and a half lengths. Originally, the plan for the Resolute Racing runner was to perhaps run in the $225,000 Iowa Oaks, which was run at Prairie Meadows Friday night or the $200,000 GIII Indiana Oaks at Horseshoe Indianapolis on Saturday.La Rascasse takes the Monomoy Girl Stakes | Coady MediaTiming wise, the Saratoga race made more sense.“But it's not just about the timing,” Walden said by phone from Kentucky. “We are not going up there just to participate. I think she fits. She is two-for-two, she drummed a pretty good field her last time out and she could not be doing any better.”La Rascasse opened her career with a hard-fought maiden win–by a head–Apr. 11 at Keeneland. Ever since she came into his barn, the filly has shown ability, both in the afternoons and the mornings.She deserves the chance to compete on the big stage, Walden says.“We are not running in Grade Is just to run in Grade Is,” Walden said. “We want to win Grade Is. I think she is incredibly talented. She has not given me any markers that this is a lot too quick. She is in the feed tub; she is bounding out of the stall every morning. She looks great on the track. I think she is ready for a big effort, and we are going to let her have the opportunity.”Kentucky-based jockey Axel Concepcion, who has ridden La Rascasse in both of her starts, will ride in the CCA Oaks, Walden said.He will also chase another Grade I later in the meet as Rhetorical is being pointed to the $750,000 Fourstardave Aug. 8. Finley Says Bowling Green a 'Make or Break' Race for Carson's RunIt's career start No. 15 for Carson's Run (Cupid) in Saturday's Bowling Green. And, according to Terry Finley, president and CEO of West Point Thoroughbreds, which co-owns the 5-year-old along with Steven Bouchey, it's a key race for Carson's Run.“This is probably a make-or-break race for him,” Finley said on the Saratoga backstretch Friday morning. “I think we have expected a little bit more. The water gets deeper with these horses in the higher echelon. Sometimes they lose a step.”Carons's Run, Terry Finley and Steven Bouchey | Sarah AndrewFinley isn't throwing in the towel.Carson's Run, a Grade I winner in the past (2024 Saratoga Derby), hasn't hit the board in his last three starts, two of them this year.Trained by Miguel Clement, Carson's Run had five wins and three seconds in his 14 prior races. Finley says the horse has been training well for the Bowling Green. Well enough to win it? That's the question.Carson's Run, who will be ridden by Joel Rosario, is 10-1 on the morning line.“He acts like he has a shot to be back on his game,” Finley said. “He has worked really well. He had been just so-so, and we did not know what to think. He had a couple of sub-par efforts, but he has always been a horse that will tout you. I think he is going in with a shot.“The good thing about Miguel is that he is very straight forward,” he said. “If he doesn't like the way a horse is training, he'll tell you.”Carson's Run is named for Carson Jost, the son of Kim and Wade Jost of Washington State. Carson Jost was born with the Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. Wade Jost graduated from the U.S. Military Academy with Finley. The post Saratoga Notebook, Presented By NYRA Bets: Little Less Maker Hoping Ole Crazy Bone Goes A Long Way In Bowling Green appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.