DRF has a poll -- Bernardini is still most popular

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Barbaro has nothing to do with whether Bernardini was overrated or not.

We know you love horses who run one or two breakout races and have their racing careers permanently end to injury before they accomplish a whole lot.

I know you loved Barbaro before he ever raced on dirt, I told you to watch him after he won his 2nd career start and you had a bigger woody for him than even I did, as a turf horse, at that time.

I know you liked him in the Kentucky Derby...and I did not.

What any of that has to do with Bernardini isn't apparent to me.

You give me a headache sometimes, but ok, I will briefly allow you to bait me into answering you.

First off, all three of his turf races were breakout races. His first two dirt races, while considerably unimpressive to you, were very impressive to me for the exact reasons you thought he sucked on dirt. How many times and in how many ways can this be explained to you? As I thought would happen, he finally, for the first time in his entire career, put everything together in the Derby.

While I do have a penchant for picking out horses that are destined to have five race or less careers, Barbaro was not the type who fit that mold. He was sound and suffered a freak injury leaving the gate, FFS.

What does any of this have to do with Bernardini? Quite a bit, or nothing at all. I suppose it depends on how much you limit your perspective.

My thoughts are that had he not broken down, Bernardini would have had to chase Barbaro in the Preakness, thus not getting his usual 100% perfect dream trip. Yeah, I know, he didn't need the lead, but chasing Barbaro would have been a whole different ball game then chasing what turned out to be a brutally bad field.

I seriously doubt he'd have won the race and the legend that he was becoming that year would have been derailed right there. He'd have been exposed well before the BCC and apologists like you would have had no excuses to blame his loss on.

He wouldn't have been the 3yo champion, and had he faced Barbaro in one of those awful g1s he won that summer, he'd have not gone off to stud with all the fanfare due a superhorse.

Hell, I bet he would have raced at four.