Early move south

Originally Posted by abe1947

It's the time of the year for some trainers to start moving their colts to where they will train and possibly run in the Spring. Since I think a Derby horse should have some 2y old foundation, having no starts/wins as a 2y old is a big negative. A few on my watch list have already made that move, without a race. Western Flight, Shaami, and Cat's Folly all were 800-900K purchases at Kee last Fall. They had been working, and looked to have what it takes to make the Derby run. They could still make their mark in some of the prep races, but I'd think twice when it comes to the Derby.

I think foundation itself has changed with modern training methods. Trainers do more with horses in the morning to build foundation than they used to, and fresh legs and a healthy horse far outweigh the benefits of lots of races.
I'd rather see one debut in late November or December and run a race per month leading up to the Derby than anything else.