[LARHAGE]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

OK, so people overrated him...that's obvious, but this silly and incorrect thread/post is just as inaccurate. First of all, Barbaro did not PROVE on the racetrack that he was a superior horse. Second of all, losing to Invasor is hardly a disgrace as that horse has proven himself this year to be a fine animal. Thirdly, anyone that can analyze a race, and believe me Invasor meant a decent amount of money to me, knows that Bernardini hardly benefited from the most well timed ride. Clearly Castellano panicked when he wasn't doing his best running on the backstretch and forced him into a premature move, which is Castellano's achilles heel, and Bernardini hardly embarrased himself from there. What we saw today were two horses running very well and putting on an exciting show...the kind we see all too infrequently.

Yes, the " he could have run much faster " comments were off base. Hopefully people will learn a lot from Bernardini's performances today and prior to today and next time they see a horse winning easily they will realize that does not necessarily translate into a much faster performance when the horse is challenged, especially if such horse is running as fast as Bernardini was in those easy wins. However, none of that diminishes Bernardini's immense talent. Ya know, actually not being as good as Secretariat is hardly a knock.

The unfortunate thing will be if we don't get to see Bernardini run next year, when he has had more time to mature, as perhaps then he could live up to at least some people's lofty expectations.

Great post! I'm also glad you said the same thing I thought, Castellano moved too early, Bernardini still almost overcame that and I agree he will benefit ( hopefully) from the experience next year.