Marriedtothemusic ships in for George W. Barker

At this time last year, Marriedtothemusic was in such sharp form that he ran in the Grade 2 True North at Belmont Park. The True North will be contested again Friday, but instead of running there, Marriedtothemusic will face far softer company while returning from a layoff of nearly six months.

Marriedtothemusic, a first-time gelding, will make a road trip to Finger Lakes for Friday’s $50,000 George W. Barker Stakes, a six-furlong sprint restricted to New York-breds.

There are questions about what Marriedtothemusic is capable of doing after racing just once since last summer and not at all since finishing a distant third in a high-priced optional claimer over the inner track at Aqueduct on Dec. 10.

The other intriguing shipper from the New York Racing Association circuit is Brass Pear. He ends a one-race experiment with blinkers after failing to show his customary high early speed in his first start off the claim for trainer David Donk.

The top locally based horses are Sundae On Sunday, who will be making his first start since October, and Frisky Warrior, who returns to Finger Lakes, where he is an 11-time winner, following six unsuccessful starts this season at Aqueduct and Belmont. Sundae On Sunday and Frisky Warrior were third and fifth in last year’s Barker.

KEY CONTENDERS

Marriedtothemusic (Last 3 Beyers: 86-68-71)

DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Over the past five years, trainer Linda Rice has hit at just a 9 percent clip with dirt sprinters returning from a break of 61 to 180 days, but she’s 4 for 17 in that same category with horses she has run at Finger Lakes.

DRF FORMULATOR FACT: Jockey Omar Gomez is 20 for 54 (37 percent) riding for Rice at Finger Lakes over the last two years.

Brass Pear (Last 3 Beyers: 58-80-89)

DRF FORMULATOR FACT: He makes his second start off the claim for Donk, who is 0 for 5 in that category over the past five years. Donk is 2 for 7, with 86 percent in the money, with the sprinters he has sent to Finger Lakes over the last five years.

Sundae On Sunday (Last 3 Beyers: 86-82-75)

◗ He was third at 9-1 in this race last year following a 214-day layoff and won an allowance in his first start following a 183-day break in 2012.

Frisky Warrior (Last 3 Beyers: 81-78-81)

◗ He is liable to improve while returning to Finger Lakes, where his last three Beyers were 85, 88, and 87 in 2014. He hasn’t had much luck in the Barker, finishing fifth last year and fourth in 2013.