I don't hate any horse -- and I donate money to thoroughbred charities routinely. Not as much money as I'd like but maybe life will get better and I can do more in the future. And if Bernardini doesn't work out as a stallion and some of my donations go to save his life I'll be a very happy man. Seriously. I'd cry if he went to the slaughterhouse. It would depress me to the end.
The Preakness wasn't really an issue with me. I think it was more the racing press and how they tried to pivot off the public's interest in Barbaro and place that interest in Bernardini. It didn't work and it was a crappy sleazy move to begin with.
And really the hype was to the detriment of Bernardini. The racing press asked Bernardini to be Ghostzapper and Bernardini wasn't. It's a shame.
People on this forum were asking him to run a record at Churchill -- asking him to run 1:58. That was asking too much of Bernardini. And too much of any other horse.
The hype didn't help -- it didn't help Bernardini, it didn't help the handicappers who fell for it, it didn't help the novice bettors who fell for it, it didn't help racing, and most of all it didn't help the horse racing press. The horse racing press is still the same old fraud. Read at your own peril. And bettor beware.
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