"When I look at yearlings I love to look before seeing the pedigree. Sometimes I can guess parts of the pedigree by recognizing common traits from a family. To me athleticism is key, sometimes it is hidden by too much finishing by the prep process or too much fat. You have to look through the horse.

A ground covering walk is huge with me, but sometimes a horses' gait can be compromised by the manner in which he is shown, a lip shank, a bridle, all can affect the way a horse moves.

Also I look at feet sometimes a horse will have the Karate Kid walk (put the wax on-take the wax off) but it is because he has had too much correction in his feet. I pick up the feet frequently to see what has been done to them. A good example of feet affecting sale price was Fleetstreet Dancer. His feet were corrected in reverse of what needed to be done the result was a bulging hoof shape and a wiggly walk. I bought him for $22,000. and he had an incredible pedigree and an awesome walk, but he flipped his feet and they were shaped weirdly.