Richard Litt began Barber’s first stint in his stable with a feature sprint victory, and now the Warwick Farm horseman is eyeing a repeat as the former Godolphin flyer kicks off campaign number two.
The Exceed And Excel gelding resumes in the $300,000 The Warra (1000m) on Saturday, the headline short-course event on the The Gong card at Kembla Grange.
Acquired for $215,000 through Inglis Digital for Monarch Racing late last year, Barber quickly proved a shrewd buy by claiming the Listed Takeover Target Stakes early in his new preparation. He then added a strong placing in the Listed Ramornie Handicap, giving Litt plenty to look forward to for his return.
“He’s a wonderful horse, he did his job in his first preparation with us, paying his owners back immensely, so if we can knock off one or two more races he’s really done his job,” Litt said.
“We’ve had this race in our sights for a very long time. We purposely tipped them out at the right time, he had a good spell, he’s come back and he’s come back very, very good.”
Barber’s credentials were well established during his time with James Cummings — highlighted by victories in the $1m Golden Gift and the Group 3 Blue Diamond Preview — and Litt has kept his trials purposefully light this time around with two gentle sixth-placed efforts at Warwick Farm.
“We’ve mindfully kept him very, very fresh,” he said.
“He’s a horse that can be a little bit lazy and very unassuming in his work, but we also needed to do enough with him to make sure that he’s ready for game day.
“I was very happy with his trials, he’s come through them very well and he’s ready to rock and roll.
“He probably isn’t a true 1000-metre horse but I think the race will map out wonderfully for him. It’ll probably be on fast enough ground, at a fast tempo, he’ll be just in behind the speed and you know he’s going to get a good crack at them late.”