Buddy's Saint targeting Fountain of Youth

Nashua S. (G2) and Remsen S. (G2) hero BUDDY'S SAINT (Saint Liam) took the

initial steps of his three-year-old season at Gulfstream Park on Friday morning,

breezing a half-mile in :50 3/5.

"We just wanted to give him a chance to stretch his legs," trainer Bruce

Levine said. "He had about a week of galloping when we got him here from up

north, and he'll be on a steady work schedule from here on out."

Levine has targeted the $250,000 Fountain of Youth S. (G2) on February 20 as

the first seasonal test for Buddy's Saint.

"We'll point him towards the Fountain of Youth; that's the immediate goal,"

Levine said. "The Holy Bull ([G3] on January 23) comes up a bit too soon, and if

I was going to make that race with him I would have needed to bring him back

earlier than I wanted to, and he wouldn't have had all that much down time since

his last start.

"Plus it gives him a little more time to develop," Levine added. "And I'll

have had some more time to get him ready. It's also a two-turn race, and I'd

much rather bring him back at that distance than to go a one-turn mile where the

pace is usually much quicker. You can catch some sprinters stretching out, and

if he were to draw inside you're almost forced to run him hard early."

A winner in two of his three starts, Buddy's Saint had trained well leading

up to his debut last September, giving Levine confidence that the colt was "more

than all right." And despite being disqualified from a victory in his career

debut, Levine opted to start the colt in the Nashua for his second lifetime

outing.

"He was training like a stakes horse leading up to the Nashua, and even

though there was a maiden race at a mile on the same day, I thought we should

give the race a try," Levine explained. "But I never expected him to win as

easily as he did."

Buddy's Saint captured the Nashua by 12 lengths, and following that victory

Levine targeted the Remsen. The bay colt posted a 4 3/4-length win in that 1

1/8-mile Aqueduct test.

"In my mind, stretching him out was only going to help, and the Remsen was

definitely a goal we targeted," the conditioner said. "It was two turns, and I

really wanted to try him at two turns before heading south. He responded that

day like I thought he would, and to this point, everything has gone well."

Levine's other stable star, last year's Pan American S. (G3) winner BUDDY'S

HUMOR (Distorted Humor), is also making strides towards a return to the races at

Gulfstream Park, working five furlongs in 1:02 3/5 on December 29. Buddy's Humor

hasn't started since finishing fourth to eventual Breeders' Cup Turf (G1)

runner-up Presious Passion (Royal Anthem) in the Monmouth S. in June.

"He wrenched an ankle after the Monmouth race so I just decided to give him

the summer off," Levine said. "Having won the Pan-Am last year when it came off

the turf, I'm leaning more towards the dirt with him this year. In the back of

my mind I'm looking at the Gulfstream Park H. (G2) as his first major goal."

With the Gulfstream Park H. scheduled for March 13, Levine is still searching

for a race in between to prep his six-year-old charge.

"I would like to get a start in him towards the end of January," Levine said.

"If I can't find something in the condition book for him, I'd probably take a

look at the (February 20) Canadian Turf (G3), but I'd love to get him in a mile

race on the dirt, and then go from there."