Barkley primed for comeback race

Trainer Howard Belvoir thinks Barkley has never been better. If the veteran trainer is correct, Barkley will be a handful when he makes his comeback in an allowance race with a $50,000 claiming option Wednesday at Emerald Downs. The 5 1/2-furlong dash for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses and goes as race 2 on a 10-race card that begins at 2:20 p.m. Pacific.

Barkley, who won the Grade 3 Longacres Mile in 2018, started only once last year, winning at the same level and distance as Wednesday’s feature then going to the sidelines with an injury.

“It wasn’t a serious injury and the owners were happy to give him the time to recover,”

Belvoir said. “He’s worked 19 times this year, so he’s ready to go.”

Belvoir was particularly pleased with Barkley’s fourfurlong move out of the gate in 46.80 seconds last Thursday.

“I actually caught him going a bit faster,” Belvoir said. “I am very happy with the way he’s going.”

Barkley stands out from a class perspective, and he can fire fresh. He won his debut in 2016 and his first start in 2017. He could only manage a runner-up finish coming off the traditional winter layoff in 2018, but got back on track in 2019. The classy 7-year-old horse by Munnings has compiled a 10-41-0 record from 18 starts for earnings of $363,625.

“He’s such a cool horse,” Belvoir said. “He’s built like a linebacker and runs one like one. If he sees a horse in front of him, he wants to run them down.”

Barkley will break from post 3 with Javier Matias riding. Matias has ridden Barkley in all of his races.

The Blaine Wright-trained Rally Cat is going for the hat trick while making his first start as an older horse.

Prior to winning back-to-back $40,000 optional-claiming races on Sept. 1 and 21, he finished fourth as the favorite in the $50,000 Muckleshoot Derby. He went into the 1 1/8-mile derby off a neck loss going 1 1/16 miles in the $50,000 Seattle Slew.

He will break from post 2 with Juan Gutierrez aboard.

Barkley and possibly Rally Cat are being pointed to the Grade 3, $100,000 Longacres

Mile. Wright said Rally Cat “needs to show he fits.” Wright added that last year’s runnerup, Anyportinastorm, will be back for the Mile.

A win by Barkley would give Belvoir his fourth victory in the most prestigious race in the Northwest. He won the Mile back to back with Wasserman in 2008 and Assessment in 2009.

The Mile is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 13. A revised stakes schedule is in the works, however. Emerald was hoping to revert to its normal schedule of racing with patrons on the weekends, and nine stakes races were scheduled on the five Sundays in August. Instead, Emerald will continue to race without fans and only on Wednesdays and Thursdays until September.