Buddha (right), ridden by Pat Day, captures The Wood Memorial.

Among the steppingstones on the road to Buddhist wisdom are energy, resolution, equanimity and patience. They're crucial on the road to Louisville, too. An inexperienced 3-year-old colt named Buddha showcased them all Saturday in the Wood Memorial, where he outfought Medaglia d'Oro to win one of the best head-to-head duels you'll ever see. Through the final 7 furlongs, they were never separated by more than a length.

Appropriately, the person who guided the lanky gray around Aqueduct was Pat Day, a born-again Christian who says "Praise God" more often than Billy Graham and Oral Roberts. Was this just a coincidence or a cosmic connection destined for glory in Louisville? There could be some powerful vibes operating here.

"This was just another flawless ride by Pat Day," trainer James Bond said. "He always has something left, and he needed it today to win this race. I can't say enough about his ride.

"I am usually optimistic about my horses, but this one I really had a good feeling about. He's lightly raced, but he's so intelligent. If you could measure a horse's intelligence, he would measure out very high."

Day was thrilled with how Buddha dug down deep in only his fourth career start and his first in a stakes. "This horse ran really big," Day said. "I was very, very pleased with his effort. He sat down calm inside the whole way."

The path along the rail is the shortest way home, and Buddha never left it in his 1 1/8-mile tour of the Big A. That's not to say he had an easy trip. He was in tight quarters entering the first turn and never got a breather. After tracking Medaglia d'Oro in second through a half-mile in a solid 46.98 seconds, Buddha and Day took the fight to the Bobby Frankel-trained 2-1 favorite.

They hooked up midway down the backstretch and stayed that way to the end as Laffit Pincay and Day, two of the all-time greats, probed each other's mounts for a weakness. Neither found one after going at it for 6 furlongs in a quick 1:10.14 and a mile in 1:35.19. The colts alternated for the lead until Buddha stuck a head in front passing the eighth pole, but Medaglia d'Oro, also making just his fourth start, wasn't done. A hundred yards from the wire he surged at Buddha, who refused to give in and inched away in the final desperate strides, holding on by a head as the crowd of 20,103 yelled.

Half a length behind was Sunday Break, who was third throughout but never seriously threatened. Chasing him home were plodders Saarland and Blue Burner, 3 1/4 and 5 1/4 lengths, respectively, in back of the winner. Buddha paid $8.20 after being timed in 1:48.61 on a fast track that produced quick times on a warm, overcast afternoon.

"[Buddha] really fought hard to the wire," Day said. "The other horse was alongside him the whole way, and when he came back at him at the end, my horse wasn't giving up anything. It was a super effort."

Sometimes desire makes the difference, even for Buddha.

Day was aboard because regular rider Edgar Prado chose to stick with Harlan's Holiday at Keeneland. Nobody was second-guessing Prado after he won the Blue Grass Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths to earn the dubious honor of Derby favorite. Unless Buddha reacts badly to the grueling Wood, he'll take on Harlan's Holiday at Churchill.

"This was a tough race, don't make any mistake about that," Bond said. "Will it season him more? That's a possibility. Will it hurt him? That is also a possibility. We'll see what happens over the next few days.

"As for going to the Kentucky Derby, I would love to run a horse in that race, believe me. I go to cocktail parties and meet people who know nothing about racing and they'll ask me, 'Did you ever win the Kentucky Derby?' I would answer, 'No, I never even ran in it,' and five minutes later, I'm standing by myself. But I have to make sure this horse is doing okay."

Unlike Bond, Buddha's owners, Gary and Mary West, and Day have suffered in pursuit of Derby glory. So did Buddha's sire, Unbridled's Song, who ran fifth as the Derby favorite in 1996 while suffering from a sore foot.

Day is 1-for-19 in The Great Race, failing nine times until Lil E. Tee got him off the schneid in 1992. The Wests had their Derby baptism of fire in 1993 when Rockamundo came in 17th, but that flop couldn't have prepared them for their misery last year with the luckless Dollar Bill. Day also was along for that absurd ride, stumbling through a Triple Crown of traffic problems in Louisville, Baltimore and New York.

"We had trouble with Dollar Bill," Day said, "and now we have a good horse."

Said West: "Racing luck evens out."

Will Buddha bring them all good karma? Will what goes around, come around on May 4? It's worth contemplating.