Barkley, Mach One Rules likely to meet again in Budweiser

Barkley came out of his dramatic win over Mach One Rules in the $50,000 Governor’s Stakes at Emerald Downs last Sunday in excellent shape and will be pointed to the $50,000 Budweiser on June 18.

“He’s doing great,” said trainer Howard Belvoir. “He went back to the track [Wednesday] morning, and everything looks good. He’s proud of himself.”

As well he should be. That was Barkley’s seventh win in nine starts, and he had an excuse when he got off to a poor start in his runner-up finish behind Prime Engine in his first start this year. His other loss was by a head to Opportunistic in the $75,000 Emerald Derby.

Similar to what happened in three straight stakes in 2016, it looked like Mach One Rules was going to win the Governor’s, only to have Barkley nail him in the last few yards. This time, the margin was a neck. Last year, it was a head in the Auburn and Seattle Slew and a neck in the Coca-Cola.

“He really knows where the wire is,” said Belvoir. “I usually don’t get too attached to my horses, but you have to love him. He tries every time, and there is just something special about him.”

According to trainer Frank Lucarelli, Mach One Rules came out of the race in good shape and will also be pointed to the Budweiser.

Lucarelli could only shake his head about watching a rerun of what is becoming a classic horror story for the connections of Mach One Rules.

“Unbelievable,” said Lucarelli. “I thought he had it at the sixteenth pole, and then I saw Barkley coming again. I couldn’t be happier with him though.”

Lucarelli said he might try a different strategy with Mach One Rules in the Budweiser.

“Barkley keeps catching us, so maybe we’ll try to track him and run him down instead,” he said. “One thing about it, we aren’t going away.”

Wright dislikes starter’s rule

Trainer Blaine Wright said Invested Prospect might not run again at Emerald. She was the odds-on favorite when she flipped in the starting gate and was scratched from the $50,000 Hastings Stakes at Emerald last Saturday.

“She will live to fight another day, but maybe never again at Emerald,” said Wright.

The leading trainer at the meet, Wright was upset about the policy of starter Don Miller of not allowing horses to be late-loaded in stakes races. “It’s not a rule,” said Wright. “He does it in cheap claiming races, allowance races, everything but stakes. It just doesn’t make sense to me. She’s not that bad, but she had acted up a bit in the gate in a couple of her races. I don’t know what caused her to flip this time.”

◗ Leading rider Rocco Bowen has a good chance of winning Friday’s feature with Zoombadaboom. The late-running filly, trained by Charles Essex, should have an honest pace to work with in a six-furlong dash for 3-year-old fillies running for a top claiming price of $10,000.