Eddie Barker

Since he ran his first horse in 1994, Eddie Barker's routine has never changed. Every day, he gets up at an ungodly hour and heads to his work, which is his barn on the NYRA backstretch. The reward has been some winners here and there, but never more than 23 in a single year and not one of them a graded stakes winner. The GI Kentucky Derby? It's a race he watches on television. In a sport dominated by the likes of the Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown, Steve...

Trainers Eddie Barker and Mertkan Kantarmaci finished as co-leaders of the Under 20's Claiming Challenge for the Aqueduct winter meet, NYRA announced Friday. They were each awarded $16,500 for their joint winning effort in the program, which is open to local trainers with 20 or fewer horses. The shared victory marked the third consecutive win in the series for Kantarmaci, who won the 2018-19 Aqueduct winter and 2019 Belmont spring/summer Under 20s Claiming Challenge titles outright. Kantarmaci now oversees a stable of 16 horses in New York with the assistance...