Barker will have to train Return the Ring up to Bay Shore Stakes

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Unable to find a suitable allowance race in New York, trainer Eddie Barker thought he had found a good alternative for his 3-year-old colt Return the Ring at Laurel Park – a first-level allowance race going six furlongs. But there is a quarantine in place at Laurel in the wake of a confirmed test for equine herpesvirus, and that will prevent Return the Ring from shipping to Maryland.

“It would have been the perfect race,” Barker said.

Now, Barker said he will have to train Return the Ring up to the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore Stakes on April 3 at Aqueduct.

Return the Ring, a son of Speightster, won his debut on Nov. 28 at Aqueduct. He didn’t run again until Jan. 31, when he finished second, beaten a head, by Hello Hot Rod in the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct.

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Since then, Barker has been seeking an allowance in New York going six or seven furlongs, and it hasn’t filled.

“I put him in one and he was the only in the race,” Barker said.