Written by Megan Taylor, sports reporter covering international sports since 2020
Barber is expected to return at Royal Randwick on Saturday, July 25, with trainer Richard Litt hoping clear Sydney skies give the sprinter suitable ground in the Elite Sand and Soil Handicap over 1100 metres.
The sprinter was withdrawn from Rosehill last Saturday after rain left the track unsuitable. Barrier five, a 59kg weight and apprentice William Stanley's three-kilogram claim now shape his latest chance to end a luckless campaign.
Barber's assignment follows another developing racing story, with Zac Lloyd guiding David Payne juveniles to a Canterbury double earlier in the week.
Dry Track Offers Barber His Chance
“He has been very frustrating,” Richard Litt remarked. “He’s had no luck this ‘prep’.”
“Wherever he goes on good ground, he will be very hard to beat. It’s just getting that good ground.”
Barber finished fifth in May's Chief De Beers at Doomben, beaten just over one length. He then struggled on a heavy track in the Hinkler Handicap before finishing less than two lengths behind Yellow Brick in the W J Healy Stakes at Eagle Farm.
The former Godolphin runner won the Listed Takeover Target Stakes at Gosford during his second start for Richard Litt. Three black-type placings have followed for the Monarch Bloodstock-owned sprinter.
Richard Litt Stable Maintains Strong Form
Richard Litt could also start Aleppo Pine in the Sydney Roosters Partners Handicap and Wyong debut winner Iced Fury in the Marcellin College Randwick Handicap. The official Royal Randwick acceptances are available through Racing New South Wales.
The stable has recorded seven winners from 18 starters this month. That run includes wet-track performer Romeo's Choice, who won at Rosehill last Saturday.