Castellano is one lucky rider
 

Although he is not of the status of Edgar Prado or John Velazquez on the East coast, the one thing that he can say for himself is that he has rode three of the most talented horses that have graced a racetrack in the last five years....Ghostzapper, Bellamy Road, and now Bernardini...and I believe he would tell anyone who would listen that Bernardini is the best of the three when it is all said and done...

Unbelievable.

Better then Zapper, come on...And you are a sheet player so you KNOW how fast Zap used to run

Not yet of the caliber of EP or JV, but I wouldn't call him "lucky".
I'd call him "skilled".

You know what I meant....he is obviously a good rider...

The thing is though, Zapper was running fast as an older horse with several starts under his belt, while Bernardini is still impriving with every start - yet he won a Classic with ease in his 4th lifetime start and then came back and had a public workout against a decent bunch of 3YOs yesterday....

Sheets are only good for evaluating a caliber level of horses that you haven't seen run before...non-mainstream horses....But, for top class horses that are in the spotlight for everyone to watch, good horse analysts don't need to see any quantifiable figure to see the brilliance in a horses and his performances.....he's a beast..

Not to undermine the Zapper, but he didn't exactly blow away Roses in May in the '04 BC Classic......and I think Bernardini would urinate on Roses in May in any race at any time...

Bernardini could be as good or better than Zapper....no doubt in my mind about that...

I feel like the reason you think Bernardini "could urinate" on Roses in May is because you just saw him win impressively yesterday.

Come on, Joel...

Roses in May was really fast, and won the world's richest horse race impressively in the Dubai World Cup.

I guess you think Bernardini could urinate on Pleasantly Perfect and Electrocutionist also.... I mean, they didn't win the Jim Dandy so obviously....

This horse has won TWO races of any significance

I was never that impressed with Roses in May. He beat the hanging Perfect Drift in the Whitney, he ran a decent but very non threatening 2nd in the Classic. He won the Cornhusker, whatever that means. He won a very watered down Dubai WOrld Cup against a bunch of over teh top turf horses, whoopitdooo.

Bernardini is already a better horse and has the potential to be up there with Ghostzapper and Skip Away someday, if these guys keep him on the racetrack.

We want ver know just how good he will be if he goes on and wins the BC this year. Whale if he wins the BC it will show a very nice horse but we will never know his true greatness. They wil retire him with only 6 total races and a great horse needs more than 5 total wins.

Yep, but he won them in his 4th and 5th lifetime starts...that is what isd so impressive...he has been totally untested since he broke his maiden and isn't even at his best yet....the scary thing is that he'll only get better...

I completely agree.....Roses in May never beat anything in his career IMO...

I have to agree with Joel, Bernardini is going to be better than Ghostzapper. I don't see him losing again this year.

As for Castellano, he did make one mistake this year. He chose Corinthian over Showing Up and lost the mount to C. Velasquez. He could be riding the top dirt horse and grass horse if he stuck with Showing Up.

The way he won that race yesterday reminds me of the way Ghostzapper won his races towards the end of his career. Both tremenbdous talents, pretty obvious but remains to be seen just how long Bernardini will be on the racetrack. Lets hope a while.

Was thinking Strong Contender would be a great bet in the Travers but after watching Berardini yesterday, I may as well flush my money down the toilet and save the standing in the heat & humidity all day long.

Can't see him losing again? I guess you should jump on the 4-1 future odds at http://www.wsex.com/cgi/zshow_bets?44381 on Bernardini winning the BCC! Even if there's just a 50% chance he makes the race, you'd be getting an effective 2-1. That's pretty good for a horse you can't see losing. (I truly apologize for my tone, but statements like "can't see him losing" drive me slightly crazy.)

I can personally see lots of ways Bernardini can lose. Maybe 100 ways, even. The easiest ways, however, are Flower Alley, Lava Man, and Invasor.

That's not to say that I don't like this horse. I like him a LOT. He's run 2 huge races. But I'm not even close to being ready to annoint him the 2nd coming of Spectacular Bid. To argue his superiority over Roses In May and Ghostzapper is ridiculous, IMO. (As if the field in the Jim Dandy can be compared with the Dubai race or RIM's BCC!)

--Dunbar

btw, if you DO want BCC future action on Bernardini, you'd almost certainly do better waiting for Pinnacle and TheGreek to post their odds.

I'll stick with betting on the race on race day. Right now I really like Flower Alley in the Whitney, Showing Up in the Secretariat, and Henny Huges in the Kings Bishop. I don't see how any lose and I think all go off around 3-2. I am thinking about a 3 horse parlay, maybe turn $1000 into $15-16,000.

I still don't know what the fuss is over Flower Alley. I can understand with Lava Man, although a lot of that is his versatility and his rise from claiming fame. But are the connections of Bernardini worried about Flower Alley or Invasor? I doubt it. Are the connections of FA and Invasor worried about Bernardini? If they aren't, they should be.

I agree, I'll take Bernardini over Flower Alley anyday. Lava Man and Invasor are much better than Flower Alley in my opinion.

Gee, he only ran a close 2nd to the best horse last year as a 3yo...

With a carefully planned campaign and given he may improve as a 4yo, he'll be very difficult to deal with and you better have your A game to beat him...

Whenever Lava Man can take his game on the road and win, that's when I will take notice. I admire him, but gutting out wins against Ace Blue, doesn't get me excited....

It's hard to say right now who will win between Bernardini and Flower Alley, they both have upside...

You and I have been agreeing on this for awhile now...The horse we have all been waiting for has arrived. A great horse as great as the big ones of the 1970's. We all thought he was Barbaro, but in fact, the one that we waited for came into greatness under our noses in the Preakness. Bernardini is a monster and a freak. He is the only horse that has completely left me speechless after a race. Bring Flower Alley on. He won't beat this horse. No horse will as long as Bernardini runs his race. Bernardini has the best gallop I have ever seen. It is so fluid and powerful. He could have won by 25 lenghts this weekend if Javier would have asked him to go.

Yes, he is here...finally. Enjoy him.

Are you related to Gary Stevens?

Oh my dear lord... I can't get over how dramatic this post was. Honest to God...

Laugh at me now if you want to. You won't be laughing at the end of the year. Do you all not recognize a truely great horse when you see him? I mean what that horse did in his last three races was unbelievable, and he is improving. This is the best horse I have ever seen live by far. He is Ghostzapper quality, and for a three year old, that is scary.

Not laughing, just asking for a reality check...

Agreed. I don't see how anyone can not see that this is an all-time great horse.

I don't need a reality check. I just see this horse for what he really is.

Yes, but you have said similar things about:
Afleet Alex
Lawyer Ron
Barbaro
and now
Bernardini

Did you not see the other 3 for what they were?

Afleet Alex...injured after winning two grade I's. Could have been one of the best.
Barbaro...injured after winning the Derby undefeated. Could have been one of the best.
Bernardini...winning everything easily. Will become one of the best if he is not injured.
Lawyer Ron...I never said he was a superhorse. I just said that he was potentially one. I thought he would develop a little more quickly than he did. He was still a very immature looking colt when he ran in the Derby, and has a lot of growing left to do. He is working really good again after his surgery. The jury is still out on him.

What if Bernardini never races again, it's not out of the question and I certainly hope we get to see him run again, but would he be all of these things after winning a marred Preakness and beating a horse making his 3rd life time start with very little pressure...

Would you still consider him great? I sure wouldn't. I love the horse and hope he does go on to be a great, but to proclaim him that now is foolish and ego driven, because everyone loves to say I told you so...Funny how all of these "I told you so's" were not boasting of some prediction they made before the Preakness...

I truly believe Bellamy Road is one of the best horses I have ever seen, but I can't prove it based on his record....

I agree with you 100%. Bellamy Road was one of the best horses I ever saw as well. I'm not laughing at Kentucky, but I want to see Bernardini win against older horses before I jump on his bandwagon. JMO.

Nope, I wouldn't consider him great if he was injured right now. That is why I said it in my post above. Just like I don't consider Barbaro and Afleet Alex one of the greatest. I don't even consider GZ to be one of the greatest because, although he was very brillant, he didn't run often enough. If Bernardini is not injured, this is going to be one of the greatest horses ever.

I am usually not one to say "I told you so". You should know that as of now because I have been chatting with you for a long time, and we frequently agree on many issues. I just want everyone to see this horse for what he really is, and to enjoy him while he is here. We don't know when there will be another one like him. Just enjoy him.

I am in total awe of him. Like I said, he is the first horse that I have ever seen race live who left me totally speechless after he won. It was the fact that Javier had so much horse under him and he never even asked him to go. He just loped under the wire. We will probably see what he is really made of in the Travers, and if we do, it is going to be a real show. After taking about a minute to compose myself after watching the Jim Dandy, all I could manage to do was to stare at the TV screen and say, "He is here." In fact, the whole OTB was silent for a few moments after everyone watched what Bernardini did to the field. It wasn't who he beat. It was how he did it.

BTW, I also think BR is one of the most talented horses that I have seen. I wish someone that knew what they were doing would get a hold of him and campaign him as Bobby Frankel did with GZ. Then maybe BR would stay sound long enough to win a few races.

Jessica, you have said this about so many other horses... and it IS about who he beat. He is the best 3 year old colt left out of his crop... let's wait to see how he does against the older horses first.

Reading this just makes me appreciate one thing....how little respect Tiznow receives....Bernardini is never going to be comparable to the big 3 in the 70's....he can't go back and win the Triple Crown....doesn't work like that. And what about Cigar? I'm sorry you didn't appreciate these horses.

What's weird about this whole thing that people feel the need to put down another horse in order to make a case for Bernardini....the great ones don't need that their track record speaks for themselves. I guess this has a direct correlation of the lack of talent he's actually beat to this point.

The only ones who I have said were potentially superhorses were the ones that mwindu pointed out in the posts above.

I was specifically talking about the Jim Dandy when I mentioned that it wasn't who he beat because he didn't beat anyone except for maybe MB (a horse that we still don't know about because he may not have liked the slop; another point is that Sunriver also hates the slop). It was the way that he beat them. It will be about "who he beats" later on in the year when he is actually running against true grade I horses. Right now, he can't help who he is facing. He did what he was supposed to this weekend...and that was to run them into the ground. He by far exceeded my expectations.

I'm not disappointed in the horse at all... I'm disappointed in the way that you are proclaiming him the next "great" one. BTW, Sunriver was injured in the Jim Dandy, so it's hard to tell whether or not it was the slop or the injury that caused his poor performance.

Cajun, I hadn't heard that. What's the word?

Sunriver injures ankle in Jim Dandy Stakes

Aaron and Marie Jones's Grade 2 winner Sunriver, a full brother to two-time champion female Ashado, injured an ankle in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.
"It looks like he wrenched his right hind ankle," Pletcher said. "There was some heat and inflammation in it [on Sunday] and it's improved today. We will probably do some radiographs on it [on Tuesday] and see what's going on."

Sunriver finished last of six, 18 3/4 lengths behind Bernardini. Pletcher said Sunriver would probably not race over a sloppy track again after the Jim Dandy effort marked his second unplaced finish over a sloppy surface. The three-year-old Saint Ballado colt also will likely miss the Travers Stakes (G1) on August 26 at Saratoga.

Sunriver won the Peter Pan Stakes (G2) on May 20 at Belmont Park before finishing third in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 10. The Jim Dandy marked his first start since that effort.

Well, I can't help knowing what the horse is, and I also can't help wanting to share it with everyone else that loves horse racing. I can't help it that he is one of the most talented horses that I have ever seen, and that he wins and wins for fun, while running incredible times (preakness), winning by open lengths under a strangle hold (jim dandy), winning by open lengths without a crop (withers), and winning on and off the lead. Maybe he will get beat by the older horses later on this year, but I highly doubt it. If he does or doesn't, he will run all comers into the ground as a four year old if he is not injured.

Thanks for the info!

Medaglio D'oro did pretty much the same thing in the Jim Dandy...

So you believe he's as good as Secretariat?

was that a stranglehold on saturday? look, he won easy...but still.

and no way of knowing how he'll fare against older. all this talk about the bBd, and even HE lost against older. c'mon guys. many say medaglia d'oro was special, the best of his crop, and he couldn't even beat volponi. flower alley, invasor and lava man are no volponi!!!!
let's give the unearned hyperbole a rest already. two good races. TWO. that's not hall of fame material.
now, let him win the travers and the bcc. then i'll be a believer, because like they say seeing is believing. conjecture isn't.



'he is here'


oh lord.