A Group I Breeders Cup Turf Juvenile Sprint winner at Keeneland in the morning and a $ 1 million two-year-old stakes winner at Rosehill in the afternoon - another good day at the office for Darley Stud’s flagship stallion Exceed And Excel.
The Charlie Appleby-trained Mischief Magic got the ball rolling with a come-from-behind win at Keeneland.
It was a similar story with the James Cummings-trained Barber. He missed the start, overcame an outside barrier, and found traffic problems to keep his record at a perfect two for two in the Golden Gift (RL) at Rosehill.
Barber launched down the centre of the track under Hugh Bowman to deny the game I Am Invincible filly Infatuation by a head.
Exceed And Excel’s highly regarded first starter Summer Loving was a length back in third.
“Plan A out at the start, we go to Plan B. I thought it was Belle Du Jour all over again with Little Lenny Beasley,” Godolphin representative Darren Beadman said
“I don’t know what happened at the start. As we said to Hughie before the race, he’s such a push-button colt.
“He’s like an older horse to ride. He picked up, got his house in order and rode him for luck. Came out a little bit sideways at the 300m but knuckled down strongly. He’s a pretty talented colt.”
“He drew one the other day in the Kirkham and had all the favours, but today had to overcome adversity.
“The way that he let down and put his sights on the horse in front he really knuckled down. The sign of a good horse.
“He conserves his energy and blew them away at the finish.”
Bowman said he thought he was in trouble when Barber missed the start.
“I wasn’t as relaxed as when Winx missed the start. The plan was taken out of my hands at that point,” Bowman said.
“So I just thought I will ride him where he is. The pace was extreme from the outset. Mid-race I could feel I was detached from the pack.
“He was happy and I had to trust him to run his race.
“That trust I had in him paid off because when I did need him, I still think he was inclined to think about it, he would run around a bit. You saw when we got into clear space. It’s only his second start and he was nursery rhymed around the course in his first start.
“He had to dig deep today and he produced. I would suggest he is one of the top 2yos in the country.”
The strikingly handsome Barber captured the Kirkham Plate at Randwick on debut and has now built a bank of $679,750.
A brother to the Group III MRC How Now Stakes winner Manicure, Barber is the third winner from five to race out of the Group III STC Research Stakes winner Trim.
A daughter of Lonhro, Trim died in 2020, and Barber is her final foal.
