Three Peat for Barbados?

Suzanne Stables colorbearer Barbados (Speightstown), winner of Gulfstream’s six-furlong Spectacular Bid S. Jan. 3, takes the next logical step in today’s seven-panel GIII Hutcheson S. The bay romped by five lengths going turf to slop at Keeneland Oct. 16 while trained by Kellyn Gorder for WinStar Farm, and subsequently brought a session-topping $340,000 at Keeneland November. “The plan was the Hutcheson if he passed the first test,” trainer Michael Tomlinson said. “He’s doing excellent. He’s a very intelligent colt. He’s the kind of colt that may run a little farther than his pedigree says just because he’s such a smart horse.” Tomlinson added, “We gave a lot of money for the horse. He showed a lot of talent in his race at Keeneland and the ability to sit off the pace. He’s not necessarily one-dimensional. He’s got good conformation and he’s absolutely sound. He’s got as much talent as anything I’ve ever had, and he definitely is as smart as any colt I’ve ever had.” As for whether Tomlinson might considering stretching his charge out after the Hutcheson, he said, “At this time of year, it’s hard not to think about it, but we’ve got to let the colt take us where he’s going to take us, and let him lead us as far as he can go. We’ll see what that is. We’re going to take it a step at a time and see how far he takes us. If two turns is in the picture, then we’ll take advantage of it.” Arindel Farms’s Richard the Great (Distorted Humor) kicked off his career auspiciously with victories here Aug. 17 and Sept. 28. He was favored in Gulfstream Park West’s Buffalo Man S. Nov. 29, but checked in sixth after a tough trip. “The horses came up on the outside of him and it startled him,” trainer Ralph Nicks explained. “[Rider] Edgar [Prado] said he thought he was going to try to jump the fence at one point. He almost ended up hitting the fence, so it was pretty much a throw-out race. Physically he’s fine, but he was just a little frazzled. He’s always been an easy horse to train, always very professional, that’s why it was a surprise when that happened. If I had chosen one horse in the barn that that trip wouldn’t bother, he would have been the horse.” The Coolmore contingent and Stonestreet Stables’s Stanford (Malibu Moon) was a $550,000 Barretts March juvenile last year, and ran to 3-5 advanced billing to earn his diploma first up at Monmouth in June over an eventual stakes winner. He has been off since a sixth-place run in Saratoga’s GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 10, but has been working quickly at Palm Beach Downs over the past two months. “We trained him for a while and he just seemed to be going through the motions a little bit,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of the reason for the break. “He seems to be training much better now. I’m not really sure why. He seemed to benefit from a little bit of time. We couldn’t really identify anything particularly bothering him, but he didn’t seem to be training up to his standard. We just turned him out for a little while and it seemed to make a difference.”