He may run in the shadow of his stablemate on Saturday, but Barnes is sure to earn respect all his own in the Grade 2, $400,000 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing. On a 15-race card featuring the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 1 Cotillion, Bob Baffert has shipped a pair of 3-year-old colts from the West Coast. Goal Oriented gives the trainer a strong chance in the Pennsylvania Derby later in the day, but his sprinting stablemate could prove to be tougher to beat at six furlongs. Without a suitable age-restricted option in Southern California, Baffert decided that the Gallant Bob was worth the trip just four weeks after Barnes ran third in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga. It was the $3.2 million yearling’s first race back from a layoff of nearly four months, and he ran on to finish 1 1/2 lengths behind Patch Adams. “I thought he would run better,” Baffert said. “He’s a big horse, he got stuck [between horses], and he couldn’t get going right away. He’s got to get a clear shot. We’re still developing him.” Barnes has taken three cross-country trips in less than a month, but based on his performance at Saratoga and his efforts earlier this year, he appears to be a clear standout in the Gallant Bob. In January, Barnes won the Grade 2 San Vicente at seven furlongs in his second start before stretching out and finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind Journalism in the Grade 2 San Felipe. He was pulled off the Derby trail and given time after a distant fifth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Carrying on in sprints, Baffert’s goal is to prepare Barnes for the Grade 1 Malibu, a seven-furlong race restricted to 3-year-olds on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. Only one other runner in the field of 10 3-year-olds has graded stakes experience, let alone enough to match that attained by Barnes so early in his career. Neoequos, another Triple Crown contender better suited to sprints, will break from the far outside post for Saffie Joseph Jr. After sprinting throughout his juvenile season at Gulfstream Park, Joseph decided to put Neoequos on the Derby trail in March. The Florida-bred finished third in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby, earning enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby, where he finished 13th. After chasing Derby dreams, Joseph went back to finding sprints for Neoequos in June. He was no match for Patch Adams in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Saratoga, but he improved next time out to win the $100,000 Jersey Shore at Monmouth Park. Last month, he weathered a taxing duel to finish second in the $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town. “The internal fractions in that race were very quick,” Joseph said. “A horse bolted early around the first turn and [Irad Ortiz Jr.] had to use him to get around that horse. I think the pace had an effect at the end, so I think his run was even better than it showed.” Though he has held his own at seven furlongs, Neoequos has never won going longer than six, which could make the Gallant Bob the ideal spot. Parx Sprint Buccherino will defend his home track on his own terms in the $150,000 Parx Sprint Stakes. Not only has the 4-year-old colt won 5 of 6 starts at Parx, he also is undefeated at 6 1/2 furlongs. The field of 11 will have to go through him. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “He’s training good, feeling good, and we’re ready,” trainer Alfredo Velazquez said. On a hard Parx surface last month in the $75,000 State Representative’s Sprint, Velazquez wasn’t sure what to expect from his colt, despite his glowing record at home. But after sustaining constant pressure on the front end, jockey Paco Lopez asked for more in the stretch and Buccherino pulled away to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Lopez, who said he could have won by 10 on a more forgiving track, will be aboard again this weekend. “You don’t have to win by 10 lengths,” Velazquez told Lopez. “You just win.” On Pennsylvania Derby Day last year, Buccherino suffered his only defeat at Parx in his graded stakes debut when he finished third by 1 1/4 lengths in the Gallant Bob. In June, Full Moon Madness improved to defeat Buccherino in the $100,000 Alapocas Run at Delaware Park after three straight starts in graded stakes at Aqueduct. The 5-year-old gelding will return from a three-month layoff in the Parx Sprint for trainer Michelle Nevin. Damon’s Mound is listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in the deep field, but the 5-year-old will have something to prove for Bill Mott. In June, he finished third behind Full Moon Madness and Buccherino and has not won in two starts since. Liberty Bell Mystic Lake seemed to scare away most of the competition at Charles Town last time out, but the nine-time stakes winner may have to work a little harder to take down 10 rivals in the $150,000 Liberty Bell Stakes at Parx. From a very early point in Mystic Lake’s 4-year-old season, Joseph had the $250,000 Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon at Charles Town circled on the calendar. When it seemed unlikely to fill, he even entered a second horse to ensure that she could run. She met every expectation in the four-horse field, cruising away on the front end to win her third straight race by three lengths over Grade 1 winner Vahva. “Big effort last time,” Joseph said. “She got the pace scenario in her favor. It was a slow pace, obviously, and that was probably one of the reasons she was able to beat Vahva.“ :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures Last year, Mystic Lake won the Grade 2 Charles Town Oaks before shipping to Parx for the Grade 1 Cotillion, where she was outmatched by Thorpedo Anna. Without the Horse of the Year in her way, she stands a much better chance of earning her first win at Parx, though six stakes winners are still sure to test her. Carmelina, one of three runners entered by Butch Reid, is the local filly most likely to hold down the fort against Joseph’s jet-setting star. The Pennsylvania-bred has never lost in four starts at Parx and improved to win an allowance by two lengths last month, earning a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure. “She’s always been a very tough filly for us,” Reid said. “She had to do a lot of shipping for various things and acquitted herself well everywhere, but she’s really found a home right back here at Parx.” – additional reporting by David Grening :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.