BARNES an unraced 2-year-old colt has been entered by trainer Bob Baffert in a 5 ½-furlong Maiden Special Weight sprint at Churchill Downs next Wednesday (11/27).

The start will be Baffert’s first at the Louisville track since Churchill Downs announced in July of this year that it was lifting their imposed three-year suspension.

This was the moratorium that kept the trainer from racing in the Kentucky Derby and at any Churchill Downs Incorporated tracks nationwide.

Churchill Downs had ruled off Baffert in June 2021 because of a string of positive drug tests in horses Baffert trained- two of which were Churchill’s most prominent races, the 2020 GI Kentucky Oaks and the 2021 Derby.

According to Churchill Downs media notes, BARNES is named in honor of Baffert’s longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes.

BARNES is expected to ship to Kentucky on Thursday, November 21st.

He will compete in Race 7, which drew a field of 11 and has a scheduled Post Time of 3:55 Eastern.

Jockey Martin Garcia has been tabbed to ride.