Barbados Dominates in Hutcheson Victory

After winning the $150,000 Hutcheson (G3) at Gulfstream Park, trainer Michael Tomlinson said he lost his identity, but his horse Barbados, in scoring his third straight victory, may have found his.

“You’re always known for your children - that’s so-and-so’s dad or mom, so now I’m the trainer of Barbados,” Tomlinson said. “I lost my identity.”

Barbados, the 3-5 Hutcheson favorite after taking the Spectacular Bid Stakes by three lengths at Gulfstream on Jan. 3, had to work a little harder to come away with his first graded stakes win. The 3-year-old son of 2004 Eclipse Champion Sprinter Speightstown sat just off the pace of the front-running X Y Jet as that gelding set fractions of 22.80 seconds for a quarter-mile and 45.23 for a half. Barbados loomed large coming into the stretch and appeared as if he would pass the leader with ease, but X Y Jet had something left and would not give in without a fight.

The two sophomores locked eyes and ran together down the stretch, but as the wire drew closer, Barbados began to gain the advantage and pull away. With Luis Saez in the irons, he finished a half-length in front of X Y Jet, covering the 7-furlong distance in 1:24.39. It was another 7 ½ lengths back to the third-place finisher, Big Family.

“It was a tougher race than on paper it looked like it should have been, so my hat’s off to the second-place horse,” Tomlinson. “He dug in and tried. I asked (jockey) Luis (Saez) after the race, ‘Was it that hard?’ He said he got to the front and measured the horse and knew where he was, and he made the statement, too, he didn’t think [X Y Jet] would’ve gotten by him if they’d gone around again, so that’s a good sign. Any good horse has to have heart. At some point or another they’re going to get tested, and the cream of the crop is going to rise, and hopefully he’ll have another opportunity or two for this horse to have his cream rise again.”

“I looked at the race and I didn’t see a lot of speed in the race,” Saez explained. “I knew the other horse (X Y Jet) was the speed because the other one (Bluegrass Singer) was scratched. So I needed to keep my horse close. The horse in front looked like he was going very easy. When we came into the stretch, I was worried my horse wouldn’t pass him. But my horse likes a fight. When I asked him, he gave me a lot.”

The Hutcheson was Barbados’ third straight win, but only his second start for Tomlinson, who scouted out the colt at a WinStar Farm dispersal sale last November at Keeneland for Paul and Suzanne Hanifl of Suzanne Stables. They purchased the colt that day for $340,000. Prior to the sale, the colt had run three times, finishing second and fifth, respectively, in maiden races on grass at Kentucky Downs before switching over to the main track and running off to a five-length victory at Keeneland on Oct. 16. Barbados then won the Spectacular Bid in his first start under Tomlinson’s care.

“I looked at a lot of horses that day, and I didn’t see anything I liked until this horse,” Tomlinson said. “It’s been a sweet ride to this point in time, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope we can keep it going.”

Where Barbados goes next is still uncertain. While the colt is by a sprinter and has thus far not gone around two-turns, after the win, his connections said giving their horse a shot at the Kentucky Derby Trail is a possibility.

“Physically, when you look at this horse, he tells you sprinter,” Tomlinson said. “It’s just stamped all over him. But the female side of this horse’s pedigree, he’s got a Street Cry dam and a Quiet American second dam and third dam is by Red Ransom. The bottom side of his pedigree is bred to run from here to Atlanta, so we’ll just see. Body type doesn’t always indicate how far a horse can run, and we’ll take it a day at a time. Mr. Hanifl and Sue and I will talk and formulate a plan and see where we’ll go. Two turns is in the plan at some point in time.”

“It was a great win,” Paul Hanifl added. “Anyone with a 3-year-old before the first Saturday in May, you know they say hope springs eternal. He has potential. Who knows what he could be? We don’t know if he will run long. We’ll probably look at something a little longer.”

Gulfstream’s Fountain of Youth (G2) on Feb. 21 could be the next target, provided the colt comes out his Holy Bull effort with good energy.

“That would be back in 30 days,” Tomlinson said. “It’d be four weeks. That’s a little bit questionable, but we’ll see how he does. He came out of his last race just absolutely so good it was unbelievable. He ate every oat in the tub and licked the tub the night of the race. If he does that again, we’ll have to start considering all our options.”

Barbados paid $3.40 to win, while X Y Jet returned the same $3.40 to place. Big Family’s show returned $4.20. The order of finish was completed by Richard the Great, Bridget’s Big Luvy, and Dom the Bomb.

Source: Gulfstream Park Communications