Bernardini crushed Brother Derek when they met. I think he could have taken on Lava Man today :)

Weren't there some posters, myself not particularly included, that seemed to think Bluegrass Cat was a very good horse? Bernardini laughed at him.

Believe me, I wish there was better competition for Bernardini, but he certainly seems to be winning with the utmost of ease against these less than stellar fields. No doubt it's unfortunate that Invasor didn't show up today, and/or there wasn't a tougher field in the JCGC, but I can't fault Bernardini. He's at least a very good horse and sorry if I don't agree with the poster who feels he's inferior to both Roses in May and Saint Liam. I think he is a better horse than both of them. Plus he has a different vet than the one they shared.

Agree DTS
 

It is not only who Bernardini beats and what his time is ....
It is much more than that. Not easily explained....
It is how he moves and just the way he races and i have been watching racing for 30 years now....
Obviously he is bred in the purple.
Remember, he is just a three year old with only a handful of races.
He should move up that much more next year if he ever races as a four year old.

I respect people with their opinions and i can accept if you do not believe Bernardini is not the best horse you have ever seen, but to say he is not a great horse is just pure non-sense.

As far as Go Go Gomez goes, he is just in a zone right now. Rides are incredible and is always one to fear no matter what his odds are... Johnny V. had a pretty spectacular day also.....

PSH

Yeah, that ride on Aussie Rules was flawless. I thought the best part was how quickly he righted the horse after breaking slowly and easily mitigated how much it hurt the horse.

I must Admit some of these responses about Bernardini are absolutely hilarious I am Still ROFLMAO over the one "wait till he runs in some real races". Preakness, Jim Dandy, Travers and JCGC. I am Glad I have that straight now that those are not real races.:D

I disagree with it not being fast, it wasn't a total speedway, but it was playing fast, HH set a stakes record in the Vosburgh and the same level Allow Optional Claimers ran the mile fraction a second slower yesterday...

When is the last time that anyone has seen an opening quarter in a non-turf race go 25? I can't remember, I am sure it's happened, but not very often, I hope that a G1 animal could run fast after catching that break. I am pretty sure you could find allowance horses that could run a mile very close to 1:36 with that kind of pace.

Like I said he's the best horse in training, but I think he's going to be in for it, once he gets competition and he has to fight off multiple moves and deal with traffic. Right now the 3 I'll use either for tri or pick 3 or 4 purposes will be Bernardini, Lava Man, and David Junior.

Here's the facts.. Bernardini ran impressively, Lava Man ran impressively.

Period. Anybody thrashing either performance is either biased or delusional.
.
.
May the best horse win on the 4th.

I find it hilarious that there are still Bernardini haters.

Go ahead and bet against this horse on 11/4. I would LOVE it. Give me a decent price on this monster and go home crying like a salty little girl. It would be "classic," no pun intended.

If Bernardini wins the Classic- HE'S THE BEST HORSE SINCE GHOSTZAPPER AT THE CLASSIC DIRT DISTANCES. But he's gotta win the Classic.

That's a silly comment...

I am not a Bernardini hater, I actually made a good amount of money on him in the Preakness, it was tragic, but I cashed hard on him in the Preakness. He's the best horse in training, that I have no doubt, but he's had everything his own way and very little competition. That track was fast yesterday and the opening quarter still boggles my mind, but to say that he had fast mid quarters, well I sure hope so. I don't get the lavish amount of praise put on him for not doing a whole lot right now, he's a very good horse, but he's not a Ghostzapper or Mineshaft yet. Jerry Bailey even made the comment yesterday that it looked like he had to get after Bernardini to put away WB, I didn't notice that, but imagine if he has to do that 2-3 times in the Classic, no one can really say with certainty how he'll react, that's all that I am saying. If you put a large win bet on this horse in the BCC, you are taking a risk I don't think will be worth the odds, I'll use him in exotics and hope he runs out, not likely, but I wouldn't take that kind of large win bet risk on him, because he has not proven himself in that situation...

Its amazing anyone can knock Bernardini. Hes incredible in every sense of the word. As a few posters have noted, the way he moves is unreal. He floats, he doesnt even get out of a gallop for Christ sake. Im sure Javier Castellano, when its all said and done, will tell the world Ghostzapper had nothing on this horse. I mean nothing. This is the kind of horse that makes people realize what a great horse is. This is the best horse since Spectacular Bid, no question about it, how anyone cant see that blows my mind. The last few years there have been some incredible animals come along, Lost in the fog, Henny, Bernardini, Discrete Cat, if those horses dont give you goosebumps, you need to bet football.

Bernardini looks great. Not as good as Mineshaft or LITF imo. I like their running styles much more. But again... thats me.
Bottom line: The horse has not been pushed. I hope he gets his chance to show how good he is.

Reminds me of Larry Holmes in boxing except unlike Larry, he will retire early. Holmes was a great fighter but he boxed AT THE WRONG TIME. There was no one to threaten him, to bring out how good he really was. How many people even know Larry Holmes? How many people know Ali, Frazier, Foreman? The last 3 showed greatness because they were tested. And I think Holmes would be mentioned with all of them if he ever had some competition in his prime.

We may have the same thing here in horse racing. I dont trust Lava Man to run well at Churchill. I dont trust this horse when he has to travel distances. And will that be Bernardini's only competition?

If Bernardini would have gone at Churchill and the Belmont like Smarty Jones, and lost like Smarty Jones did after being doubled teamed and set up. Then I would be more impressed. At least I could say the horse got pushed to the limit and never gave in... That it took Rock Hard Ten AND Jerry Bailey's suicidal act on Eddington to defeat him. If he was absolutely weighted down (the real meaning of handicap) and have a spectacular stretch battle against a once winning Perfect Drift I could say I saw something. And the comparison made is Bernardini beat a beatup Brother Derek in the Preakness...?

But it is NOT the horse's fault that I cant annoint him. Right runner, wrong time. I hope not. But the shed calls, so I personally will never know how good the horse really is. This is really what absolutely sucks. He is gone after the BCC. So all the people who like family trees can play little games with generational charts instead of watching the greatness of an athlete on the track. "I cant wait to see his babies to... uhhhhh, have babies?", please shoot these people somebody. They destroy RACING ON A TRACK.
Just hoping the BCC shows me something more than 4 horse fields and no competition so that the animal can show us how good he really is.

What may actually have worked against this horse sadly is Barbaro's breakdown.

Jerry Bailey thought that Castellano had to work on Bernardini? I was at the track, and I admit that I initially thought that was true. Later, when I read the quotes, I realized that it wasn't that Bernardini had to work harder, Castellano just waited that long to ask the colt. I think Tom is quoted as saying he probably waited too long, lol. When I saw the replay, it was apparent that Bernardini moved easily past Wandering Boy - Castellano didn't have to work a bit.

he is better than ghostzapper. this is a three year old doing this. he just has much better action and unlike ghostzapper, he races every few weeks. this horse is getting faster and he has not been asked for anything.

I won't debate the action, but Bernardini has had his races spaced, he's not run every couple of weeks...

I disagree with it not being fast, it wasn't a total speedway, but it was playing fast, HH set a stakes record in the Vosburgh and the same level Allow Optional Claimers ran the mile fraction a second slower yesterday..
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It was the first time the race has been run at 6 furlongs, so of course it was a stake record.

Not the first time at 6F but about the third so your point is well taken.

I didn't realize that, well that doesn't give much evidence then, so I'll take that back. For some reason I kept thinking it was at 7f, but they said on TV that it was a Stakes Record, sort of misrepresents it, but that's my fault for listening to one of them...

Impressive win. Sorry i'm not overdramatic.

Smarty Jones isn't even in the same league as Bernardini. Bernardini would crush Smarty Jones. Bernardini is a better mover, bigger, faster, better built, and more talented than Smarty Jones. This horse is the best horse since Spectacular Bid. If he wins the BC Classic, he will be #1 on my greatest of all time list. 3 year olds don't crush older horses like he did in the JCGC without even being hit with the whip. Wanderin Boy is no pushover. Invasor was all out to beat Wanderin Boy in the Pimlico Special and Bernardini ran by Wanderin Boy with utmost ease even though he let Wanderin Boy crawl through a 25 opening furlong. I don't need to see the horse run face to face with another horse. I know what he is. A horse that has the fire in his eyes like he does will win the battle. He will literally crush his opponent when they look him in the eye. He will turn them back and make them falter. Bernardini is one of the best moving horses that I have ever seen. In fact, he may bet the best. The competition is ducking the horse. They are afraid of him. Even Lava Man's connections said that Bernardini was scary. He is scary. There is no other way to put it. And he gets better with every race.

He probably won't be headed until he faces Discreet Cat in the Dubai World Cup next year. However, even Discreet Cat won't be a match for this horse at a mile and a quarter. The truth is that Bernardini may never get headed because he is just too good. And yes, I bank on both of them being in the Dubai World Cup if both remain healthy. I really don't think that Bernardini will retire next year.

Yesterday was......
 

A day of impressive performances, I agree about Gomez's great ride on Aussie Rules, magnificent! Toughest trip of the day would have to go to Prado on Frost Dawn, total box in on the rail, gonna be watching that one next time out, with hopefully a better trip. Bernardini of course didn't get a true test, he's a great horse no question, just can't wait to he how he performs when other quality horses take a run at em. I think he will shine on BC day, but the competition level will be a bigger test than lately, if ever for him.I still so wish we could have seen that stretch run with him and Barbaro, it would have been fantastic IMO.
I think also Lava Man is the real deal, he's done everything he's been ask to do this year, and yes he was hit with the stick down the lane, as C-Nak said just to keep his mind on business. I feel he could have beaten this more impressive field (than Bernardini's competition) whether Corey when to the whip or not. I did think Brother Derek ran a much better race than I thought he would have, but he wasn't getting to Lava Man. Yes he will have to run better in Kentucky, everyone will have to step up their collective games to attempt to challenge Bernardini, but Lava Man has earned respect.
Henny Hughs was also very strong, and is ultra class. English Channel's rabbit did what it's was meant to do, another strong performance though from EC.
It was Pletcher's day, just an amazing stable this guy has built!
Can't wait to see next week, one of my fav's, the late kickin speedball that is Gorella, hope nobody has forgotten about her, she'll be a force on BC day as well IMO.

get a life!

Yeah, Smarty wasn't nearly as good as Bernardini, he only got hammered by two G1 winners through mind blowing fractions that left them in the dust only to have him run down by a length...

Bernardini fans are morphing UK Basketball fans, I admire and respect their program, because they are elite, but their fans are so misguided and over the top I can't stand them...

You can't compare UK to Bernardini. He actually wins when it matters. :D

Thanks DTS. He is a beautiful, beautiful horse. I'm in complete awe of him. I've fallen head over heals for this horse. LOL. He is perfect in every racehorse aspect imaginable.

What are you, some fan of that team in Lousyville? <Grin>

UK MS 1977, UK PhD 1986, wife of UK professor. I lived through a couple of NCAA championships.

I have a life. Quite a good one actually. In fact, I was stressed out for awhile, but I finally became happy again over the past few days...

Bright One ran 7th as the favorite in the Indiana Derby yesterday.:D

Wait, so because Jerry Bailey said it, it's true? You said yourself that you didn't notice it, but that's negated by Jerry Bailey saying it?

Let's take a look at the Equibase comment..

"BERNARDINI raced close up outside while in hand, was sent after pacesetter WANDERIN BOY midway on the second turn, collared that rival entering the stretch, quickly drew clear from that rival and galloped away under wraps."

Sounds like Javier had to work his ass off.

I'll take my own eyes and the Equibase people over anything Jerry Bailey says any day of the week.

If you want to say he beat nobody, that's fine. That's valid. But don't say he had to work hard to do it. That's just inaccurate.

KY Rose,
At times I have a difficult time trying to figure what's going on in some folks' heads.
Like, we wait, wait, wish and hope that one like this comes along.
Then they bash.
Just enjoy this one.
Berna's don't come along that often.
If they don't appreciate him, it's really not your or my problem.
Their bashing will keep them from seeing.
He's the real deal. Finally, after all this time.
DTS

Yep, he's the one that fans like you and I have been waiting for...

And JC is quoted as saying that he had a ton of horse.......Prado is quoted as saying that Bernardini had him at any time. The only reason it looked like Bernardini (if indeed it looked it at all) was working is because Javier didn't ask him unti relatively late in the race (for him). He's riding Bernardini brilliantly - I love his quote about how he wanted to get his colt ready for the Classic, when there will be more pace. I prefer Bernardini running at a target - yesterday was a good race for him in that regard.

Offs. If the horse is what we've been waiting for for so long then why hasn't he been setting track and race records? It's not like he's had to deal with a 12 horse field and face traffic trouble. Yes he's a great horse but you two are acting like he's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

There are still questions and they're going to be answered but this know-it-all attitude is getting borderline retarded. The way some people are going overboard about this horse the BCC might as well be cancelled. He's already won it!

Pillow Poop,
We'll just have to wait and see then.
Retarded?
I must be missing something.
When your horse is ahead by, ummm ...how many lengths in the lane?
are you saying that he needs to be whipped to get the clock?
Humble you're not.
Appreciative neither.
Keep to your attitude and you'll miss the greatness.
Grind your sorry ax somewhere else.

Well, his times are great, he is improving, and his best is yet to come. When a three year old that has been so dominate all year long goes out there and beats older horses like he did, then the horse is GREAT.

I expect to see the same results in the BC Classic.

And yes, he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. LOL.:D

Yoda, i'm not.
Is beatable, Bernardini.
the stretch, could have trouble down
down it, since he's so used to galloping
Have plenty of company down it, he could
If you think he will win easily, bet the farm
you're probably just a blowhard, Of course

He beat three horses. Wow.

He beat Wanderin Boy, who Invasor was all out to beat in the Pimlico Special. Bernardini ran by WB quite easily after he let WB set slow early fractions. Of course, the Pimlico Special wasn't quite as long as the JCGC.

Actually the second quarter was pretty brisk because he was feeling the pressure of a greater steed to his outside.

I just have questions about his ability to handle late pressure. He might not face it in the BCC but IF Lava Man ships and doesn't throw in a clunker, then you'll definitely see an epic battle between the two. I've been a doubter of LM but he really showed me something yesterday and he's got me excited about the BCC. It's not Bernardini's to lose now.