Barbados gets class relief in Don Bernhardt Stakes

Barbados will be getting a measure of class relief Saturday as the likely favorite in the $50,000 Don Bernhardt Stakes at Ellis Park in western Kentucky.

Barbados, a three-time stakes winner from 14 career starts, will be coming off losses in three straight graded stakes but appears to face considerably lighter company in the 6 1/2-furlong Bernhardt. The 4-year-old Barbados will have Joe Rocco Jr. aboard when breaking from the outside post in a field of eight.

Graham changes agents

Jockey James Graham has hired Dennis Cooper as his agent for the time being after Mark Guidry recently returned home to Louisiana.

Graham, who in recent years has won riding titles at Arlington Park and Fair Grounds, will continue to ride the Kentucky circuit through late November, when he will return to Fair Grounds in New Orleans, where he will have another agent. Graham’s longtime agent, Britt McGehee, died in January.

Guidry rode more than 5,100 races before retiring from the saddle in March 2014. Cooper had been working for Shaun Bridgmohan, who will have another agent at Saratoga.

◗ The highlight of a nine-race Friday card at Ellis is a $39,000, first-level allowance that drew 11 fillies and mares going 5 1/2 furlongs on turf. First post daily is 12:50 p.m. Central.

◗ Warrior’s Club finished third with a creditable effort last Sunday at Ellis in his second career start for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. The 2-year-old colt is owned by the Churchill Downs Racing Club, which is hoping to have its other horse, Dial Me, make her second career start July 23. The ownership groups for both horses are comprised of 200 members who paid $500 apiece for a share in an active Thoroughbred.

◗ Veteran jockey Jon Court has recovered from rib fractures sustained in a water-sports accident and is named to ride in one race Friday and four Saturday at Ellis. Court was injured June 21 on a lake near Louisville when “tubing,” or trailing a ski boat on a tire tube. Court, 55, is a six-time leading jockey at Ellis and has won 3,977 races in a career dating to 1980.

◗ Sunday at Ellis will be dedicated to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance, with numerous activities and promotions being held to further awareness of a worthy organization that provides funding for the rehabilitation and retraining of retired racehorses. More information on the TAA and the Sunday event is available at thoroughbredaftercare.org.

◗ Other upcoming events at Ellis include the camel and ostrich races July 23 and the ever-popular weiner-dog races Aug. 20, 21, and 27. The top stakes event, the Grade 3 Groupie Doll, is set for Aug. 6.