There’s a Lot on the Line in the Sport of Princes

I read this week where Prince Ahmed bin Salman, the owner of Point Given--the favorite in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, travels with an entourage that includes bodyguards, a food taster to prevent him from being poisoned and someone who has agreed to provide him with an organ if he’s in immediate need.

I guess I’m not the only one who lives in fear of hockey fans.

The Prince and I actually have a lot in common. Just the other night my wife was saying to me, “Well, your Royal Highness, do you think you will ever get off that couch?”

That was the same night I gave serious thought to requesting a food tester to dig into her potato chip/tuna casserole. But whether he was poisoned or not, I was afraid it might have killed him, and I wouldn’t have learned a thing.

I have to admit, I’m pretty impressed with the Prince, who is a member of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia with a degree from UC Irvine in comparative culture and two years of postgraduate work in economics from UCLA. You have to admire a rich guy who spends that amount of time in California and steers clear of USC.

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NOW I WOULD think if you have a betting interest in horse racing and you want to handicap Saturday’s race, you would take into consideration how motivated jockey Gary Stevens and trainer Bob Baffert must be working for a man who hails from a country where heads have been known to roll.

I’m looking for Stevens to go to the whip in the paddock.

“I’m going to have some balloons under my jacket, some gas handy and just float out of the grandstand if things don’t go right,” Baffert said.

Baffert works for the Prince, of course, because by the trainer’s own admission he can be a royal pain in the butt. You have to have something royal to be around this guy, or a full set of organs.

I’m having a difficult time picturing this organ donor walking behind the Prince just waiting to be called on. The grocery-store bagger follows me around, but that’s to catch any money I might drop.

The Prince also travels with a personal driver, a doctor, a psychologist and a man, who has been looking after him since he was a child. I know a few people who would make great backup organ donors.

Bob Lewis, owner of Kentucky Derby winners’ Silver Charm and Charismatic, also travels with an entourage. “My wife, Beverly,” he said.

“The Prince told me just today he’s about to retain another doctor,” Lewis said. “You have to appreciate the world he comes from--royalty.”

The Prince, 42, runs one of the largest newspaper and magazine publication industries in the Arab world. I don’t want to start a bidding war or anything, but word is he’s looking for a page-two sports columnist.

“The Prince has a good sense of humor,” Baffert said, and a ton of money, and I would think that would make it pretty tough on the Tribune Co. to compete, but I would urge them to still try.

The Prince has other things on his mind right now. Point Given’s top competition in the Derby is expected to be Congaree, another Baffert-trained horse for owner Robert McNair. McNair beat Los Angeles at the finish line to claim the NFL’s 32nd franchise for the city of Houston. That was a thoroughbred in McNair, however, taking on a plow horse in L.A.

Baffert has already put a strain on the Prince’s heart, however, telling him that Congaree has the ability to beat Point Given.

After Point Given drew the 17th post position Wednesday, the Prince became unglued talking to a TV reporter: “I’m a nervous wreck,” he said.

I wish the camera had panned to the organ donor at that moment--to see if that was the first time they’d ever given thought to a heart transplant.

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I WAS IN Denver when John Elway joined the Broncos and watched him begin his career mobbed by fans and the media on a daily basis.

I remember telling him that he must have been raised right because of the patient, responsible way he handled the onslaught.

I was there again Monday when he honored a commitment to appear at the Padua Village Golf Classic at Red Hill Country Club in Rancho Cucamonga less than a week after burying his father, Jack Elway.

And I told him the same thing: He must have been raised right--a tribute to his father--flying from Denver to help raise more than $300,000 for a tournament that benefits residential homes for the developmentally disabled.

“We have read and heard so many bad things about athletes and this guy was just amazing,” said Padua Village’s John Rountree. “He must have signed 500 autographs, and remained cordial, available and obliging to everyone. It was just an incredible performance.”

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AFTER THE GOLF tournament, a panel of celebrities, including former short quarterback Pat Haden and old-time tennis player Pam Shriver joined Elway to discuss their storied careers.

Haden couldn’t offer much.

Someone reminded Elway that he had once lined up behind a guard, mistaking him for a center. Haden reminded everyone he was a Rhodes Scholar.

Shriver arrived with a date, George Lazenby, who played James Bond in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Lazenby took on the diabolical Blofeld, not realizing at the time it would help him to deal with Shriver.

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TODAY’S LAST WORD comes in an e-mail from Bob:

“What happened to you the last couple of days? Actually missed reading you. You have grown on me like algae.”

If I were you, I’d take care of that algae problem.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at his e-mail address: t.j.simers@latimes.com.