Barber has continued to strengthen is case for the 2023 Blue Diamond Stakes, winning the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude for the colts and geldings, extending his winning streak and unbeaten start to his racing career to three in a row.
With this colt returning from two-month spell, there could have been some excuses for him to run a nice race and need the run to then push onto a Blue Diamond Stakes when second-up, but that was not the case.
This son of Exceed And Excel sat just behind the speed and when the field turned into the home straight, there was only one horse that wasn't under pressure cruising along, and that was the eventual winner.
There was some question marks around Barber being first-up, as he drifted out in the betting from $3 to run over the line as a $4 commodity with most online bookmakers.
2023 Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts & Geldings) Replay – Barber
Sean Keogh from Godolphin spoke post-race about their star colts performance in the Group 3 Blue Diamond Prelude.
“A very justified performance,” Keogh said of his first impressions.
“He's been the number one seed for the team for some time now and he carried that pressure from the performances that we had seen on race day.
“James (Cummings) and the team thought he had some improvement in him, but still be competitive considering the level of the race and the type of standard that this horse has.
“Everything that he has done with us has shown that he is the complete professional and the way he carried himself today, with the weather a bit warm, everything just showed that he's a very smart horse.”
Jamie Kah had her first ride on the colt and she may have found her number one seed for the Blue Diamond Stakes, if she gets the chance to hold onto the ride.
“He's a lovely colt. Very professional and he showed his versatility today, he jumped and put himself up there,” Kah said.
“He was just really professional and did everything right in the end.
“He got there very easily so I sat quietly on him, it's a very long straight when you have that second winning post now and he probably got there a little bit too soon… but he's got a lot of ability and a good motor under there.”
Barber is currently the equal-favourite at $7 in the 2023 Blue Diamond Stakes futures market with online betting sites.