Perryville fair odds: In 3-year-old sprint, be ready to play board
The buzz around Barnes has always been more of a din, and while the Perryville Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland is unlikely to be the three-year-old season crescendo that hall of fame trainer Bob Baffert envisioned for this colt named after longtime assistant Jimmy Barnes, it could signal better things to come.
The Perryville will be Barnes's third race off the layoff since trying the Triple Crown trail. Neither start would convince anyone that this was once the favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but nor were they bad per se. The Jerkens was a tough assignment off the bench, and the Gallant Bob was just completely out of his comfort zone after breaking last of 10 at 2-5.
Still, neither effort was that far off what Barnes has shown he is capable of, and a step forward here is certainly good enough to win and possibly even the most likely winner regardless of what others do. At second choice on the morning line, he is the value play if that holds up.
Captain Cook is the favorite and certainly poses a huge threat to repeat his last when he finished 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Barnes and a nose behind Patch Adams in the Jerkens. He also gets five pounds from Barnes, which is the data point that kept me from being even more bullish on the Baffert trainee.
Because of the name recognition involved with our top pick, I will go into this race preparing to be nimble. If Barnes is favored then it's likely that Captain Cook is the better bet.
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