5:40 p.m. today at Colonial Downs Somewhere between Argentina and England, there's Baltimore Bob.

The long shot for the $600,000 Colonial Turf Cup is trained by Carlos Garcia, from Argentina. The colt was bred by Garcia's English wife, Carol Kaye-Garcia. And he's owned by Bob Gerczak of Baltimore.

"Horses," Garcia said. "Horses put people together."

Garcia's horses have their hay hanging in net bags on the outside of the stall. This arrangement serves dual purposes that suit Baltimore Bob. Putting his head over the door, the colt can pick at his hay, coolly assessing passersby like the wealthy diner at an outdoor bistro. And it's easy to see his owner coming with peppermints.

Gerczak drives to Colonial Downs a few mornings a week. He comes early enough to see his horse work, bringing freshly caught crabs for the trainer and mints for the horse. For Bob Gerczak, Baltimore Bob is a slowly materializing dream.

Kaye-Garcia and her business partner bred the colt at home in Maryland. She liked the looks of another breeder's colt, one out of a full sister to her aged broodmare Gabby's Love, and decided to mimic the cross by sending her mare to Malibu Moon, a son of A.P. Indy.

The result is handsome, a solidly built bay, dark to almost black in his stall.

Kaye-Garcia's partner decided to sell her part. Gerczak was only about four years into horse ownership, but he saw the colt playing in a pas ture. He was kind of looking for another horse, and this one had the dreamy quality and unwritten future that lures people to racing.

"I saw the illusion," Gerczak said, laughing. "The illusion, you know, that little baby that's scooting across the field, always got good balance or he's got a good stride and he looks pretty and all that bologna. But now, I'm just real happy that he's developed, and he's done real well."

They played around with a name to reflect his breeding. And they were standing at Colonial Downs when a friend walked up and greeted Gerczak -- Hey, Baltimore Bob! Garcia submitted it to the Jockey Club.

At first, Gerczak said with a laugh, he didn't care for the sound. But as Bob the horse has grown on the track, the name has grown on Bob the owner.

"That's a beautiful face, huh?" Garcia says, nodding at the colt.

The owner -- standing admiringly outside the stall -- is happy. And the day before the biggest start of his life, no one looks more serene than Baltimore Bob.

But with the exception of Kentucky Bear, whose last start was the Preakness Stakes, Baltimore Bob is the most lightly raced horse in the field. And in contrast to Kentucky Bear, who has run four times in 2008, Bob has been out once this year.

It's a high-profile field of 3-year olds for the first of Colonial Downs' signature turf races.

Legendary turf trainer Bill Mott has saddled three winners of the race, more than anyone else. His entries, Court Vision and Adriano, last raced in the Kentucky Derby. Adriano, with a win in the Lanes End (Grade II) and a January win on turf at Gulfstream Park, will be the morning favorite, ridden by future Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado.

Sailor's Cap and Nistle's Crunch have run well on turf. Sporting Art had a pair of wins in Grade III races on turf over the winter. Besides Baltimore Bob, only Your Round has won less than $100,000, and the Mark Hubley-trained colt still has earned almost twice as much money as Baltimore Bob while placing in a graded stake.

Originally, Garcia talked about aiming his horse at today's $35,000 Old Nelson, an overnight handicap. But there was a strong field of older horses, and jockey Horacio Karamanos kept telling him how fit the colt felt. So Baltimore Bob goes to the post today against a field with a combined 14 money finishes in graded stakes.

"I know he's got talent," Garcia said. "That is why we take our time. Otherwise, he would have run 20 times by now, like any other horse. But he is special. And we have a lot of high hopes for him."

To his credit, Baltimore Bob is the only entry with an earlier race at Colonial Downs, a win last year in his first start. Of course, nobody knew that he'd won until six months later when the supposed winner was disqualified on a routine drug test.

By that time Baltimore Bob had won a second maiden race in Maryland, then an allowance, and started to let down.

"I bet you can't name another horse that broke their maiden twice," Gerczak said, laughing.

In his only race this year, the Woodlawn Stakes at Pimlico, he ran fourth after rain moved the mile race on turf to a mile and one-sixteenth on the muddy main track.

"I don't even gallop him on the off track," Garcia said. "Well, right there, he had to try it. The jockey that rides him, Horacio Karamanos, he said, 'He was swimming! He doesn't know what to do, he's just swimming out there.' . . . Then, he said, 'But he runs great.'

"And he came back from the race like nothing happened. He was really good."