After scratching from a 1 1/16-mile allowance race Friday because of an off track, 2022 Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Barber Road breezed five furlongs in :47.40 Sunday morning for trainer John Ortiz.
The 4-year-old Race Day colt galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.60 over the fast surface.
Barber Road, who breezed with stablemate Ice Orchid, returned to Oaklawn with the goal of running in the $1-million Oaklawn Handicap (G2) for older horses at 1 1/8 miles April 22. But three consecutive allowance losses at the 2022-2023 meeting, and 10 consecutive overall dating to November 2021, have jeopardized those plans, Ortiz said Saturday morning.
“He's doing really well,” said Ortiz, who trains Barber Road for former Walmart executive William Simon. “He's been a horse that's always had bad luck in races. We're just trying to get over that hump. He needs to win. He hasn't won in over a year. I don't want him to become a herd animal because it becomes a herd mentality. They never learn how to win. I don't want that to be an issue.”
Ortiz said he will wait for another allowance spot for Barber Road, who, despite winning only 2 of 13 career starts, has bankrolled $697,810. The Oaklawn Handicap, Ortiz said, is still in play if Barber Road can quickly regain his 3-year-old form, when he also finished second in Oaklawn's Southwest Stakes (G3) at 1 1/16 miles and Smarty Jones Stakes at one mile. Barber Road ran sixth in last year's Kentucky Derby (G1) and subsequently seventh in the Belmont (G1).
“I mean, it's still a goal, but he's got to win,” Ortiz said.
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