one east, one west? or one in the dandy, one in the haskell...and then take it from there.

“He’ll go back home, freshen up, and we’ll look to bring him back somewhere on the East coast,” said Baffert. “Maybe the Jim Dandy [Grade 2, July 28] – we’re shooting for the Travers with him. We have [Derby and Preakness runner-up] Bodemeister for the Haskell.”

Thanks guys.

It'll be interesting to see how he manages these 2 as they both have similar styles.

Bodemeister:
1st Haskell
3rd Travers
2nd Goodwood
8th BC Classic
retired

Paynter:
4th Jim Dandy
2nd Indiana Derby
5th BC Dirt Mile
7th Malibu
1st Allowance
6th Santa Anita Hcp
3rd Tokyo City
sent to Steve Asmussen

I dunno -- that's kind of harsh on both accounts...especially with Bodemeister considering he has a big edge on the rest of the 3yo crop and he fits very well with the older horses.

Shackleford will be a huge thorn in Bode's side though -- if he goes Classic instead of Dirt Mile.

See any optimism for Fed Biz?

Numbers aside (I know, pretty presumptive), both horses have conveniently lossed all their big dances. Bodemeister's one important win was at Oaklawn, where Baffert can win with even a horse like Castaway. Paynter failed in the lowly Derby Trial (albeit on an off-track). He probably should have won the Belmont by open lengths with the setup he got. He's Commendable to Bodemeister's High Yield.

Also a factor is the lack of 2yo racing coupled with aggressive campaigns this spring as 3yos. The accumulated wear-and-tear could blunt their future prospects. It would be huge if they both had the intestinal fortitude of Congaree, but even he went off form at 3 and 4. And unlike him, both colts have "stallion" pedigrees, so any bump in the road would give convenient cause to retire them to stud.

Fed Biz (2013):
1st Allowance
1st Santana Mile
1st Oaklawn Hcp
1st Californian
4th Hollywood Gold Cup
7th Pacific Classic
retired

I kind of laughed.

the only difference I think is that one of these two horses is taking the Prayer for Relief cash-grab route. It's far more likely to be Paynter I think, so I wouldn't be surprised if he goes WV Derby-Super Derby-Indiana Derby-BCC-Clark.

Nothing wrong with cash unless you are training show horses and want those ribbons.

As talented as Bode is, I'd think Shack would gut him when (if?) they got eye to eye.

I like Fed Biz quite a bit, handled correctly the horse has a great future IMO.