There's an expectation when watching horses in qualifiers for the first time that they are ready for competitive action. As someone that's watched young horses go behind the gate for the first time for nearly 50 years, you want to believe in the first impression a horse gives. For the race-watcher looking at the overall demeanor of a horse is a link necessary to confirm talent. Regardless of how good a horse might look at first glance, ultimately it's the fractional times that determine a horse's true potential. Yet despite the looks and the speed a horse might indicate in the first few chances against real competition, racing for money is what matters most and if a horse falls short when there is something on the line, even those with solid opinions can question themselves. It's a habit of mine that has turned into an obsession over time. That is, looking for the next great horse while watching 2-year-olds through baby races and inevitably stakes competition. Going back in time, there was good money to be made if you could come up with a horse that qualified in slow time and was ready to race much faster. Those days are long gone now as horses need to be ready to go near race speed before trainers have the confidence to even enter in stakes competition. Still, going fast enough is only part of the equation as horses also need to be able to handle the speed as well as the start-stop nature of many a horse race. That kind of experience can theoretically be trained into horses as they process a racing future through months of conditioning. Yet, despite all the sparring among stablemates, the going changes dramatically when the speed is ramped up and horses are suddenly shifting gears unexpectedly. In speaking with a multitude of trainers over the years, there is a constant in their assessment of horses and one that is hard to process from a strict race-watcher perspective. When the subject of a horse's intelligence is raised, it seems clear some horses learn faster than others and some never learn well enough to become racehorses. Blinding speed can only take you so far in this game if a horse lacks the capacity to recognize the objectives. The difficulty for trainers who generally speak with owners in decision making is the fine line between brilliant speed and horses with intellect. When a horse shows high speed there is generally cause for excitement. As with all children, the timeline between learning new concepts can differ from one to another. Generally, we all presume that no matter how long the learning curve, all will eventually figure it out. The process is more difficult in horse racing than specifically raising kids, as the lucrative 2-year-old stakes programs put demands on trainers and owners alike. The race-watcher may see two extremely fast horses in a race and determine one is better than the other, when the only actual truth is that one is more mentally advanced than the other and understands the rigors of racing. It's an impossibility to define success from failure without understanding whether the actual horse is mentally prepared for the assignment. In canvassing many freshman races from 2022, there was one horse that looked like a potential star from the first time I watched him on the track. The Captaintreacherous-sired Bamboozler was a well-bred colt with an imposing look in the post parade. He appeared to have a gait to match his looks and everything about him suggested high-stakes level potential. I did not see Bamboozler's debut live at Pocono when he won in 1:55 3/5 on June 15 for then trainer John Butenschoen. Though, 10 days later when he debuted at The Meadowlands, it was quite clear the horse had plenty of talent. Content to sit second to the Tony Alagna-trained Hungry Angel, Bamboozler would be right there on the wire just a neck shy in a 1:51 4/5 clocking. A final half of 54 3/5 and an individual final quarter of 26 1/5 was impressive in itself. The four second drop he had made in 10 days was once considered amazing, but in 2022 it appears to happen with more regularity. A further analysis given the unknown competition in some of these baby races was that trainer Tony Alagna generally has his horses tight when they baby race and finishing right with them is a solid indicator. ► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter Bamboozler did everything right in his stakes debut, cutting a well-rated pace only to be outsprinted while losing a neck in a 1:51 3/5 mile in a Pennsylvania All Stars to Annapolis Hanover, an unknown at the time that would go on to win seven of his 11 starts racing exclusively in Pennsylvania stakes competition. Bamboozler made a nasty break taking the lead in his first Pennsylvania Sire Stakes try in late July and would go to Kentucky where he was eligible to the rich stakes program. A 1:51 1/5 overnight win on July 31 at The Red Mile appeared another strong indication of a bright future, but Bamboozler would not get one victory through four $80,000 legs of the Kentucky Championship series. Despite the losses, what was impressive was the fact that Bamboozler continued to get faster and show the kind of blistering speed reserved for champions. His August 28 mile in a Sire Stakes leg where he paced a middle half in 53 1/5 only to come up a nose short in a 1:49 2/5 mile, was typical of the hard luck he would face. In the September 18 $400,000 Kentucky championship, driver Dexter Dunn would attempt again to optimize Bamboozler's incredible speed and hopefully separate enough from the competition to score the upset. Dunn had Bamboozler motoring through three nearly equal 27-second quarters and had a four length lead in the stretch. Though tired at that point, only one horse passed Bamboozler and that was Confederate, who scored by three lengths and would be the 1-2 favorite in the Breeders Crown. Still, finishing second in a field that also included Governor's Cup winner El Rey was not all bad. The owners moved Bamboozler to trainer Virgil Morgan Jr. following that race and Morgan had a tough job finding the winner's circle as well. "Things would get him fired up," said Morgan, who is currently preparing Bamboozler for his sophomore campaign. "He would hit the bike and then be uncontrollable." In the first try for Morgan, Bamboozler would make a break while racing off the pace in a Red Mile Grand Circuit stakes. On October 8 the secret to Bamboozler's incalculable speed was revealed but not exactly as the stable would have preferred. "He got wound up behind the starting gate and Dexter just let him pace," said Morgan. Blasting out of post nine in a division of the International Stallion Stake, Bamboozler had the top in a blistering 26-second first quarter fraction. Dunn just let him pace and Bamboozler would hit the half in 52 and three quarters in 1:20 2/5 before feeling the effects and tiring. "I think he could have paced a half in 51 and change," said Morgan. "Not many horses can do that." Bamboozler would recover from that mile, something Morgan was grateful for, and close out his 2-year-old season with a hard-fought second place finish behind the improving El Rey in the $70,000 Corbin stakes final at The Red Mile on October 30. "He's a very well-bred horse and a great-looking horse," said Morgan. "It's a speed game but you can't send them out like that every start. We've trained him back and gone sets of three and four with him racing from behind. We're trying to educate him." Morgan likes what he sees so far, but as perhaps was the case as a 2-year-old, the proof will be what happens once Bamboozler is in a race. "The good thing about him is that we'll be able to start him out in non-winners of 2," said Morgan, who has his sights set much higher than that. "He's staked to everything." Everything would include the $1 million North America Cup in June. With just one win in 12 starts last year, Bamboozler's numbers tell one story. Yet a close look at his pedigree suggests there's room for improvement. That's because the near $1.5 million-winning Catch The Fire hails from the same immediate maternal line and was also by the top stallion Captaintreacherous. For Bamboozler to reach seven figures in career earnings he's going to need to learn how to follow and pass horses in the homestretch. If he does that the sky is the limit.