Bernardini IS
 

The greatest racehorse that I have ever seen. God, what a freak! He is going to annihilate the BC Classic field!

Lava Man was spectacular once again, as was Aragorn and Henny Hughes. Awesome day of racing! I can't wait until BC Day!!!

well said Jess, only Candy Ride has made me drop my jaw in awe.

As much as I am a Lava Man basher, i was impressed by him today. He finally gets my respect, even if he does run up the track in Louisville.

Umm, he won, but what exactly was freaky about that performance?


That was an awful race, they went 25 and change, he's a very nice horse, but that was hardly anything to get excited about. DT did not run a step, AH is an allowance horse, and Wandering Boy is a nice G3 horse, you knew the race was over when the jock for WB looked back to make sure he could still run 2nd. He's the best horse in training, but he's not going to know what hit him, when they go faster and they trade blows on him...

Henny, Aussie Rules, and Lava Man were all more impressive, especially HH...

i agree bern may be a better horse but lava man's race was much more impressive. Fought off several horses to draw away. Bernadini just had to sit second until wb got tired then walk home.

Lava Man did not impress me today. He's going to have to do a lot better in Kentucky. U could easily see the amount of effort needed by both he and Bernardini today. Granted, he was facing a much tougher field than Bernardini was but the effortlessness of Bernardini's race was stunning. Without being asked for anything close to his best, he still was running strong at the end. Lava Man on the other hand was being asked, even hit by the stick in the lane. And I don't think he was going faster than Bernardini was. The BC Classic is going to be a coronation for Bernardini. He didn't beat much at all but he did it the way he was supposed to. This is a once in a lifetime horse. Unless u are a Dubai sheikh. Imagine that I don't even think he's the best horse in the family. The Classic should be a match race between he and Lava Man. There are NO other horses that belong on the same track with them. And I don't even think Lava Man belongs on the same track with Bernardini.

Yes, Bernardini is a once in a lifetime horse. He brought tears to my eyes today.

I think Henny Hughes may just be the best sprinter that I have ever seen as well.

Lava Man, I love because of his class and heart, but he isn't even in the same league as Bernardini is. No horse in the world is right now except for maybe Discreet Cat, and I don't think that he could match up to Bernie. Not at a mile and a quarter.

and to think this joke of a race goes down as a grade 1.hank goldberg would be better competition than the bums bernardini has faced.

But at least a Grade One horse won it.. He looks the best I've seen in quite a while, but, he still hasn't been looked in the eye... and asked to dig down. Heck, he may never have too. Who was that Barbaro horse?

Ez

I haven't seen one that moves as easily as Bern.
Enjoy this one. The ones like him don't come along that often.

i see a grade 1 horse is a horse who routinely beats lousy horses in small errr very small fields.by that account provennothingdini is a grade1 horse.

A grade one horse is one that scares away all of the horses that figure to be competitive with him then makes the others, maybe not great horses but stakes horses nonetheless, look like stable ponies. He can only beat what they send against him. I think it's a combination of him being that good and him being that much better than what he's facing that's making it look so easy.

Anyone that questions whether Bernardini is a grade one horse is simply a hater! Racing has far too many haters!! I've often said that the reason we don't have more great horses is that we don't deserve them...some folks would have spat on Secretariat!
I agree that today's race was a paid workout for this guy, Dylan Thomas simply can't run on dirt, they know that now, AH is too slow for the top horses and a rabbit is a rabbit BUT, anyone who knows anything about racing, and by that I mean can watch a horse run and see greatness when it's obviously there, is impressed with this guy!
Lava Man...same thing! Lots of haters! This guy is the real deal, he did face a reasonably good field today and blew them away...was he asked to do more than Bernardini? Sure, he had to set the pace then draw off...so what? He did everything anyone could ask! We have 2 maybe 3 special horses heading to the BCC...enjoy them, we may not have a year like this again in a long long time!

Bernardini was in a wfa race, GETTING weight from inferior older horses. Lava Man was in a handicap, GIVING 8 to 15 lbs to inferior older horses and a 3yo. At level weights, he probably would have won more easily, but the point of a handicap is to give the best horse enough additional weight that the others have a shot of winning. At wfa in Pacific Classic, he had an easier time of it, because he didn't have to concede gobs of weight.

Well said somer. This was a GREAT day of racing! Second best day of racing in the year. Second only to the BC.

Dylan Thomas is Danehill out of a Diesis mare. Whoever decided to run this horse on dirt based on a few poly workouts -- pathetic. A disgrace.

I still bet against Bernardini in the Classic. A total hype job. Throw a full field against him with solid fractions and I say that this horse won't have anything left. He won't know what hit him.

The best i have seen
 

Bernardini is the best horse that i have seen IMO... Been going to the races since Affirmed and Alydar.....

He just does it with ease......

What a treat....:)

Bernardini is just a good 3 year old who has run against nobody. He's been very lucky in that he hasn't had anybody to run against. He might get lucky again because he doesn't have Ghostzapper, St. Liam, or Roses in May to run against. Plenty of older horses can get the 10f in 201 and change. With solid fractions also. It'll be a different story at CD in a few weeks.

The fractions in that race were almost like a turf race. 25+, 48, yawn, sigh, snore, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . . . .

Wake me up when a truly great horse arrives, because it's not Bernardini.

PSH,
I agree.
Best ride of the day, imo, was Gomez on Aussie. Super ride!
Bern...no words could say more. No whip, no urging...just easily.
Savor this one.

I don't hate any horse. And I never wish anything bad for any horse. I'd rather lose a bet than see a horse I bet against get hurt.

His Preakness was solid -- but no record time. The field folded. It would have been very interesting without the injury to Barbaro.

Frankly, I think Smarty Jones ran a better Preakness. Yet he was never hailed as "very special", or "great", or whatever.

The hype machine is all over Bernardini to get the public's mind off Barbaro.

Ghostzapper was faster than Bernardini will ever be. And that was just two years ago. Horses as good as Bernardini have come along quite often.

People say that they want to see good horses, that the 70's was the golden era and why can't we get those types again. Yet, when a horse with enormous and still untapped ability emerges, who may yet (if he runs as an older horse) join the ranks of the truly great, people are unhappy. I conclude, therefore, that people do not really want to see great horses; they want to see their own favorites become great, but if a horse that they don't particularly identify with shows that kind of quality, forget about it. The sour grapes start to appear.

I was at the track today (Bernardini looked gorgeous as always - he pranced to the post, neck arched.........spectacular) and one girl who always seemed to be where I was said "I'm still not impressed". I figure she must post on message boards.

Frankly, the 2nd through 4th quarters were pretty stiff - 23 and change for each, I believe. Bernardini was routinely brilliant- Wandering Boy ran well and Bernardini just romped

It was a decent performance. The mid fractions were solid but they were coming off some really slow initial fractions. And he didn't come home in anything riveting.

There's no way Bernardini would have beaten Ghostzapper in the BC Classic. No way. Or St. Liam, or Roses in May. He has an easy chance to do it compared with what other 3 year olds have faced in the Classic. He's been very lucky.

That might change soon depending on what Romans does with Bright One. Or the sheiks do with Discreet Cat.

Let LM get away with 25 and he would bury them, that was a rediculous pace and that track was very fast...

Well, Ghostzapper was very nice. No debate.
Actually, I wouldn't try to consider the two of them.
Different races, different times.
Bernardini wasn't even "asked" today.
Watch the replay.
He won for fun. No wonder so many have ducked him.
If you don't know what a great horse looks like, there's really no more that I can say. But what do I know? I've only followed this sport since the duels between Affirmed and Alydar. I own nine. Four with Alydar in their peds, three with Deputy Minister, and one with Secretariat.
Discount what I say all you want.
I'll just say that Bernardini's don't come along that often.
Enjoy his efforts or not. Not much more I can say.
DTS

congratulations to bernardini on the first walkover at belmont since spectacular bid in 1980.

Exactly. Maybe next time they'll pull some carriage horses from downtown NY. You know, the horses that pull the tourists around. He'll, they're older horses. Put them in the gate and let Bernardini maul them.

And then everyone can chant the Bernardini mantra. "He's so great -- he came home in a hand ride".

If you're a big Bernardini booster enjoy the next few weeks . . . because November 4th the hype ends.

Belmont was NOT that fast today ,not at all. Also, the middle 3 fractions were very fast - all 23 and change.

Todko, that horse was cantering and he finished in 25 and change. If he had been asked at all, he would have finished well under that time. Slow internal fractions? See above- not slow at all.

I hope you have a lot of friends who feel as you do; we may get a decent price on Bernardini in the BCC

So Toddy, I guess you are saying that Javier will not be checking over his shoulder at the top of the stretch at the BC?

Ez

No Betsy, I'll get the price on the horse that beats Bernardini.

He's been very lucky. I wish him well but I'd like to see him in some real races.

I never understand why people downgrade a horse based upon his competition. The horse is only running against who shows up and he keeps hammering them. What more do you want him to do? Since his 1st race he has been winning pretty much throttled down. Not like he is winning allowance races. Does not matter who he beats if there isn't anyone out there that measures up to him. Should they try to win the race by 30 lengths? Maybe he is one of the all time greats and maybe he is not. But so far you will have a hard time convincing me that he couldn't beat St. Liam or Roses in May. He may not win eased up against better horses but to say that he would not have been competitive with decent but far from great horses like the 2 mentioned above is kind of silly.

Like what, the Pomona Derby or Longacres mile? He picked the biggest races and crushed the ones that showed up. He aint lucky, he's good.

Oh yeah? Who do you think will end that hype? Is Ghostzapper secretly training up to the race?

Congrats to Bernardini and his connections. :D

for the record i dont hate bernardini.i support anything associated with seattle slew and ap indy.honestly if he was owned by someone other than sheik mohamhead i probably feel different.

One word - Officer

In my humble opinion

With Lava having 3 weeks to get right at CD, look for a battle of the ages as the folks in charge will not let this one slip by.

Trevor's call -

Lava by a nose, Lava pulls away and it's Lava

25 change.. yes, then went a half in :48 flat, 3/4 in 1:11 and a mile in 1:35.4... Bernardini was hand ridden the whole way and still coasted home in 2:01 flat.. Nice run.