Barbados Prepares for Amsterdam

Veteran conditioner Mike Tomlinson will have his first career runner in the Empire State when he saddles Suzanne Stables' Barbados for the Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam on the Jim Dandy undercard August 1 at Saratoga.

"He'll be my first starter in New York and it'll be at Saratoga so that's pretty nice," said Oklahoma native Tomlinson by phone. "I had always kind of shied away from New York, but I guess I can't do it anymore."

Barbados impressively won a pair of sprint stakes for sophomores this winter at Gulfstream Park, including the Grade 3 Hutcheson, and was being considered for a Kentucky Derby prep race before surgery to remove a knee chip sidelined the Speightstown colt through the spring season. Barbados made his return July 5 with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Carry Back at Gulfstream to earn a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96.

"He's coming into the race very, very well," said Tomlinson. "The original plan was to come up [to Saratoga] early and work him there, but time-wise it didn't work out."

Instead, Barbados turned in his final breeze at his Churchill Downs base on Saturday, working five furlongs in 59.40 seconds, the second-fastest of 43 at the distance.