by Kimberly French, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Kimberly French

Louisville, KY — He was rather reluctant to place This Is Wyatt in the Levy Series, and actually left the final decision up to his partners, but after the gelding has captured two out of his three series legs, trainer/co-owner Josh Green certainly thinks they made the right choice.

“I really liked him, but I know it’s kind of tough for 4-year-olds and I wanted to make sure he was ready to go against that kind of competition,” the 37-year-old Milford, Delaware resident, explained. “I left it up to my two partners to decide and they put him in two days before the deadline. I just told them if they put him in to send me the bill.”

Green in conjunction with his partners, VIP Internet Stable and David Rovine, bought This Is Wyatt privately from his owner/breeder Joseph Hudon, Jr., of Acton, Ontario, around the end of last November. The son of Astreos-Kindly Jenna, who never faced the starter at two, has earned $208,200 from 32 career starts. He sports a record of 12-5-6 lifetime, competed mostly in Ontario sire stakes in his first season of racing and possesses a lifetime mark of 1:51.1s that he established last year. From nine miles in 2011, paced primarily at Yonkers Raceway, he has six victories, one second place finish and $96,740 in the bank.

Tom Berg photo

This Is Wyatt has won six times in 2011, including a pair of Levy Series divisions.

On March 19, which was his final start before the Levy Series commenced on March 26, the gelding set the track record at Yonkers Raceway for his age, gait and sex when he triumphed in that evening’s $28,000 Winners Over Pace. This Is Wyatt then went on to finish first, fifth and first in his first three Levy Series assignments on March 26, April 2 and April 9.

“A friend of mine had seem him train up in Canada and recommended him to me,” Green said. “So I took a look at him and then I spoke to Joe Hudon, Jr., the previous trainer and owner. He’s a real nice guy, who gave me a lot of information about him, so we decided to take a shot on him.

“I loved him as soon as I got him,” he continued. “He’s a really nice horse, with a great attitude that loves his work. I wish I had more of him.”

Green feels one of the horse’s best attributes is his adaptability.

“I think he’s just very versatile,” he said. “He gets around a half pretty well and you can duck him off the gate, come off the pace, whatever you need. He’s like driving a car and has a lot of gate speed.”

The only time This Is Wyatt can be a handful is on raceday.

“He’s not so bad in the race, but in the post parade he can get up on the bit pretty good,” Green said.

The seemless transition from Canadian to American soil can be credited to the gelding’s former connections.

“I know Joe Hudon, Jr. has a reputation for taking really good care of his horses,” Green said. “I spoke with him and his wife and they told me everything about him. I believe they still own the mare and they were very helpful by giving us all the inside information on him.

“I also liked the fact he was rested between his 3- and 4-year-old years,” he continued. “I love 4-year-olds that have had that break, because a lot of them need it. They are just worn out and it’s very difficult to go on with them, but he has always trained really well and been just perfect since I’ve had him.”

His trainer thinks another component of This Is Wyatt’s success in the Levy Series is the luck of the draw.

“He’s been fortunate, he’s kind of caught weaker divisions and I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to go against top, top horses, but I have loved him from the minute I got him,” Green said. “He’s a good gaited horse that has a really nice future.”

His connections are going to take the remainder of the gelding’s 2011 campaign week-to-week, but they do have some ideas on where This Is Wyatt will perform.

“It will be between Yonkers and Chester,” Green said. “I will probably keep him more at Yonkers, especially if they fill their 4-year-old Open. I think he would fit in that nicely and they normally fill that later in the year. We are also going to put him in the Bobby Quillen at Harrington and that will be against some really, really good horses, but I know that is one stake we will put him in.

“I have a habit of buying bad ones, but he has definitely been a nice purchase,” he said with a laugh. “He really has such a great attitude and takes care of himself. I just love him.”