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Originally Posted by JJP
Speaking of Bernardini, didn't he get around a 101 when he won the Withers in basically a match race? That was career start number 3, and I think yesterday's NW1X with Racketeer and Flashy Bull (and others) was decidedly stronger than the graded Withers. After two races, Minister's Bid is every bit as good as Bernardini was after his first two (actually three) races. It wasn't until the Preakness that Bernardini really moved forward.
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He got a 104, actually. Bernardini was a hot horse after he broke his maiden; he broke badly and walloped the field, in sharp time. In fact, he trounced High Finance, who came back to win (romp) twice and ran a decent race in the Belmont. At the time, Luxembourg was considered a highly promising colt, so I am not going to denigrate Bernardini's Withers. It didn't matter who he was facing - that was a brilliant performance - that Beyer was earned while the colt was running with no urging whatsoever. Plus, he had missed training time with a virus and a bruised hoof. That Withers performance is just not comparable to MB's allowance race, IMO.