I agree with one of the earlier posts that there hasn\'t been enough racing talk lately so let\'s see if we can move that along a bit.
What\'s everyones take on Buddy Saint?
Here are the pro\'s and cons on the horse as I see it.
Pros
Very talented and fast. Ran a huge number in the Nashua. The kind of number that with normal 3 year old improvement would put him right in the mix for the Derby.
Bred to do it. It\'s a real shame what happened to Saint Liam as his offspring, limited as they are, are showing alot of talent and it\'s hard for me to see any distance limitations for this horse.
Cons
He hasn\'t beat anyone yet. No one who he has beat has come back to really make any noise.
He\'s being handled very carefully which could work out ok but I don\'t know if he\'s going to have alot of foundation by the time we get to the Derby. He will presumably have the FOY at 2 turns and then reportedly will be going to the Wood. So, only two preps as a 3 year old and 3 two turn races all together. Not impossible by any stretch but I would like to see more foundation.
I have heard both Lukas and Pletcher comment in the past that in their first few chances at the Derby, they focused too much on getting the horse to the race and not enough on having the horse primed for the race. I fear Levine is doing the same thing here. If a trainer is going to commit to getting a horse to the Derby, you can\'t baby them into it. Baffert losses alot of horses to injury (a few already this year again) along the way to the Derby because he pushes to have them ready but his horses have the foundation if they make it there. Levine isn\'t quite babying the horse but with a somewhat limited 2 year old foundation, I would like to see 3 races for this guy as a 3 year old before the Derby to feel comfortable that he has the foundation to get the distance on the first Sat in May.
Thoughts?
