Barbadian Runner returns to home track in Saturday allowance
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Barbadian Runner, a six-time stakes winner last year, will return to Laurel Park in a $56,000 allowance on Saturday. It will be the 4-year-old gelding’s first start at home since finishing second in the $100,000 Robert T. Manfuso in December.
“I'm fortunate enough that the race went,” trainer Henry Walters said. “These races don't often go. He's eligible under the nonwinners-of-a-date condition, so if he's ready to run, we may as well run.”
Earlier this month, Barbadian Runner made his 2026 debut in a seven-furlong allowance at Charles Town, finishing second by a neck behind the Anthony Farrior-trained gelding Petingas Twin.
“It was a good tightener for him,” Walters said. “It was a little bit of a slow pace for him to run into. He closed very well at the end. Another jump looked like he could have got up and won it, but it just wasn't quick enough for him.“
In his return to Laurel, the gelding will stretch out to 1 1/8 miles, the same distance he ran at when he won two stakes last fall. If all goes well in his homecoming, Walters said he plans to enter the Maryland-bred in the $100,000 Deputed Testamony, a 1 1/8-mile stakes at Laurel on June 27.
The trainer said he didn’t know what to expect from Barbadian Runner as a 4-year-old, but after his 12-race season last year, it’s safe to assume he’ll be busy.
Toward the end of his battle-tested 3-year-old campaign, Barbadian Runner rose to new heights when he upset two-time graded stakes winner Post Time in the $150,000 Maryland Million Classic. The Brittany Russell-trained horse had previously gone undefeated in 11 races at Laurel, a record in the track’s modern history.
The two Mid-Atlantic stars rematched in the $100,000 Robert T. Manfuso in December, and though Post Time wrapped up his historic career on a winning note, Barbadian Runner arguably improved in defeat, earning a 107 Beyer Speed Figure.
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