When Gary and Mary West's three-year-old colt Buddha propelled himself into the Kentucky Derby picture by coming out on top of a thrilling finish over Medaglia dOro in the April 13 running of Aqueduct's $750,000 Wood Memorial Stakes (G1), unbeknownst to many in the New York crowd and watching on national television, he was completing yet another chapter in a Marion County success story.

	Jeff and Carolyn Kirk's Buddha is a Kentucky Derby contender.

Buddha's emergence as a Derby contender was only the latest piece of good news for Jeff and Carolyn Kirk's Woodhaven Farm, where all of the West's yearlings have been meticulously broken and trained before being sent to the track. In turn they have taken their place with increased frequency in the winner's circle of graded stakes races throughout the country.

For several years now, a steady stream of horses has left the Kirk's barn to show up later in big money races. Horses like Mongoose, the four-year-old bay son of Broad Brush, victorious in Februarys Donn Handicap (G1) at Gulfstream Park and Baptize, winner of the Racing Hall Of Fame Handicap (G2) at Saratoga and Ubiquity, who upset the odds in taking the $425,000 Clark Handicap (G2) during the Churchill Downs November meet. When Dallas Stewart-trainee Dollar Bill, the poster boy for bad Triple Crown racing luck in 2001 and third-place finisher in April's Oaklawn Park Handicap (G1), and Entrepreneur, a recent second in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3), are added to the list even the casual observer will recognize the emergence of a very successful trend.

Based at Ocalas Classic Mile Training Center, the Kirks are, as Carolyn likes to put it, "a small operation with big results." Jeff trained horses on the Maryland circuit for close to a decade before deciding for family's sake to set up a permanent base in Ocala. Fate stepped in three years later when Ben Glass, the West's trainer, decided to retire from the track and instead assume the role of racing manager for the operation. Glass, in turn, offered Jeff Kirk the chance to start all of the West's yearlings. Kirk said yes and since then no one in the highly successful West camp has regretted the decision.

The formula used by the West stable is simple. Jeff Kirk and Glass pick out the prospects at the major sales. Twelve to 15 yearling colts -- the Kentucky Derby is the goal -- are acquired each year. These yearlings must pass a stringent test to make it on to the duo's final list: A+ x-rays and scopes are a must, along with excellent confirmation and pedigrees indicating the ability to go a route of ground. Once purchased, the young horses are given plenty of down time to recover from the rigors of sales preparation before being introduced to the Kirk regimen.

"We treat them as individuals, giving them the time they need," notes Jeff. Throughout their time with the Kirks the colts are given lots of paddock time, an outlet for all of their coltish energy. An essential part of the Kirk and West philosophy is that no horse should ever be rushed. Younger horses are taken along a little slower than their older barn mates. If time off is needed, so be it.

One colt given such individual attention was a gray son of Unbridled's Song, out of the Storm Cat mare Cahooters. He was purchased by Glass and Kirk for $250,000 from the consignment of Taylor Made Sales Agency at the 2000 Keeneland September yearling sale. The colt would become Buddha. Jeff Kirk remembers him as "a big gray horse, very athletic, very mature, all business and maybe a little more aggressive than sometimes required". Carolyn, who gallops some of the horses, remembers him as "aggressive and wanting to train". Some observers have mentioned that Buddha is very professional and well-behaved unlike his sire, a fact that could be traced back to his early lessons at Woodhaven.

The Kirks have made believers of one trainer in particular, Buddha's conditioner H. James Bond is generous in his praise. "The horses are very well-mannered and well-schooled. When they get to me they are ready to go on. Jeff and Carolyn do a great job. It is a privilege to work alongside them". Despite all of their recent success, the couple remains grounded. Deflecting any credit Jeff is quick to point out, "owners like Gary and Mary are hard to come by, these types of owners and horses make it fun. It just makes everybody's job easier."

Until recently, the Kirk operation may have been Ocalas best kept secret. If the lightly-raced Buddha, who earned $450,000 in the Wood to bring his career bankroll to $489,600, can get under the Kentucky Derby wire ahead of the field on May 5, the secret will be out. But one thing is for sure, the Woodhaven success story may only be beginning. This could be a large volume -- of War and Peace proportions -- with many chapters still to be written.