Scotty Schulhofer is an old-school kind of trainer, a 74-year-old former steeplechase rider who speaks in the soft, slow style of his native South Carolina. He's a Hall of Famer who doesn't blow his own horn. Schulhofer has trained four Eclipse Award winners -- turfer Mac Diarmida, sprinters Smile and Rubiano and the 2-year-old Fly So Free -- and thinks he has another one in the making in Lemon Drop Kid.

	Lemon Drop Kid's conditioner, 74-year-old Scotty Schulhofer, calls him the best horse he's ever trained.

"He's the best horse I've ever been around, and he's the soundest horse I've ever been around," Schulhofer said Tuesday on a conference call. "He's a magnificent animal. It took me a long time to get him to come around, but I think a lot of that has to do with maturity."

The 4-year-old colt is the current big horse in North America, riding a three-race winning streak into Saturday's 47th running of the Grade I Woodward Stakes (ESPN2, 4-5 p.m. ET) at Belmont Park. He'll be heavily favored against only four rivals, multiple-stakes winner Behrens, Pacific Classic champ Skimming, Ecton Park and Gander.

"He's doing excellent," Schulhofer said. "He came out of his last three races like he had never run. He's just gotten bigger and stronger as time goes on."

The long-striding son of hot, young sire Kingmambo and the Seattle Slew mare Charming Lassie has the breeding and physique of a star. Despite being a May foal, he also was precocious, with enough speed to win at 6 furlongs in his second start as a 2-year-old. Two races later, he took the Grade I Futurity at Belmont Park and made his way onto the Kentucky Derby contenders list. Then he ran second in the Grade I Champagne at Belmont with the valid excuse of a sloppy track. He was well backed at 7-2 but spun his wheels in a fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs.

His stock fell the next spring when he was up the track in the Blue Grass and the Derby, and a third-place finish in the muddy Peter Pan at Belmont didn't get anyone enthused except for Schulhofer. Two days before the Belmont Stakes, the old trainer said he was anticipating a big effort, and Lemon Drop's $61.50 win price made him look very smart.

A Travers win validated his credentials as a candidate for the 3-year-old title, but he couldn't handle the Belmont slop when fifth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. His season ended on a downer with a troubled sixth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Gulfstream Park. The colt's talent was undeniable but he was too inconsistent to take seriously as a major animal.

Lemon Drop Kid's 4-year-old season began with a controversial disqualification in the Widener Handicap on a sloppy track at Gulfstream, where he was dropped from first to fourth for causing interference in midstretch. His next race signaled the end of his partnership with jockey Jose Santos, who moved prematurely and dead-heated with the undistinguished End Of The Road in an allowance race on a rainy day at Aqueduct.

Edgar Prado's first race on Lemon Drop Kid produced a third-place finish in the Pimlico Special, but it's been an easy ride ever since. Effortless wins in the Suburban, Brooklyn and Whitney Handicaps have improved the colt's record to 9-for-21 and raised his lifetime bankroll to almost $2.6 million. Horse of the Year is a possibility, and victories in the Woodward, Gold Cup and the Classic would bring home the trophy.

First, though, there is the matter of rain, which was forecast for Saturday on Long Island. Lemon Drop Kid is 0-for-5 on tracks rated sloppy or muddy, counting the Widener DQ. The surface at Saratoga was wet for the Whitney but posed no problem. Schulhofer thinks he knows why.

"It rained, but not enough to leave puddles on the track," he said. "When there are puddles, sometimes he tries to jump them. I think he's matured enough that if there are puddles, he'll be able to handle it."

Of course, you never know. If it rains Saturday, don't ignore The Puddle Factor. The way Lemon Drop Kid has been going lately, that could be the biggest threat to him in the Woodward.