The initial feeling was that of a letdown.

At the 2007 Keeneland September yearling sale, a beautiful son of Candy Ride in Suzi Shoemaker's Lantern Hill Farm consignment was garnering plenty of looks, only to have the discriminating buyers turn away due to one minor imperfection.

"He was a popular horse but he had a slightly immature throat so he didn't scope the best at the sale," recalled Shoemaker, co-breeder of the youngster. "We were disappointed he didn't bring a bigger price."

Due to tepid interest, Dr. Joseph Rauch and longtime friend David Zell — the yearling's co-breeders — ended up buying out Shoemaker's share for $25,000 and keeping the horse themselves.

Two years later, Rauch and Zell are grateful to those who didn't give their horse a chance.

If living well is the best revenge, the gelding now known as Capt. Candyman Can is doing his best to make those who dismissed him a little remorseful.

Fresh off a 11/2-length triumph in the Grade II Hutcheson Stakes on Jan. 30, Capt. Candyman Can is among the top threats in a deep field of 12 for Saturday's Grade II Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Affectionately dubbed "The Captain" by his connections, Capt. Candyman Can became the first stakes winner for Rauch and Zell when he took the Grade III Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs on Nov. 1.

The minor throat issue that rattled buyers is now gone, but the high opinion the gelding's connections first had of him has swelled to enormous proportions.

"He is special, he has already given us so much joy," said Rauch, an emergency ward doctor based in Florida. "He is very easy on himself around the barn, but when he gets to the track he puts his game face on and is ready for competition.

"He is still learning but he has the perfect trainer in Ian Wilkes to teach him."

Capt. Candyman Can — who was gelded to prevent him from getting too top heavy — showed his talent early when he broke his maiden by 71/4 lengths first time out at Saratoga last August.

His ability was obvious but getting him to harness all that energy was another challenge.

The fiery nature that shows up in the paddock spilled over in the Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill in November, when a rank Capt. Candyman Can fought with jockey Julien Leparoux on the lead but still finished a game third, beaten just half a length by fellow Fountain of Youth contender Beethoven.

"When he lost that race... it may have been a blessing in disguise because we learned so much from it," Rauch said.

Indeed, after working on getting his charge to relax in the mornings, Wilkes saw a more pleasing result in the 7-furlong Hutcheson. Capt. Candyman Can settled off the leaders before unleashing a four-wide move around the turn en route to the win.

"Julien is tremendous, he just finds a way to relax him out there," said Wilkes, a former assistant to two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Carl Nafzger. "I expect him to run well (in the Fountain of Youth) no matter the circumstances."

Whether or not Capt. Candyman Can makes it to the Kentucky Derby, he has already altered the lives of those close to him.

Shoemaker, who picked out and purchased his dam, Stormy Way, for $65,000 at the 2006 Keeneland January sale, still retains the mare along with Rauch and Zell and is seeing her value increase with every victory Capt. Candyman Can rattles off.

And more than 30 years after buying their first horse together, Rauch and Zell are getting their greatest joy from the well-built horse who is making their decision to hold onto him look like their best move yet.

"We feel so blessed, I'm treasuring every moment of it," Rauch said. "If he got to the Kentucky Derby, it would be the thrill of a lifetime."