Timber Country went into the Champagne last fall with everyone wondering if he was a good horse.

Timber Country ran fourth while Thunder Gulch won at odds of 24-1.

His stablemate, Timber Country, will skip it and point toward the Jerome two weeks later.

He is holding Timber Country and his other first-string colts for the main events in California.

And they ran it without Timber Country, the juvenile champion of 1994.

Timber Country, who was jockeyed by Pat Day, won the race.

We'll probably get a good, strong challenge late in the year from one of the 3-year-old colts, most likely Timber Country.

Timber Country, last year's juvenile champion, had chased other horses four times in stakes races this year.

Now it's time for Timber Country to join the traffic.

In that race, Timber Country came from well back to win going away.