latest news-invasor, others
 

albertrani said they will decide in the next few days whether bernardini and balletto will return next year, they will remain in ky for now.

kieran believes invasor WILL RETURN next year, possibly head to dubai for the world cup--man i hope he's right! not necessarily about going to dubia tho...

fleet indian has a condylar fracture, will remain in vet care for a few days, and then 30 days stall rest. didn't have any word on her proposed sale. surely she's top older mare?

Thanks for posting, Danzig!

If Tommy has anything to say about it, Bernardini will run next year. I really hope the Sheikh listens to him - Bernardini could be even better next year and he appears to be sound as a dollar. I know he wants to replace Dubai Millenium, who was supposed to be his super stud, but it would be such a shot in the arm for racing to see this colt run again. And in case the Sheikh is worried about such things, Bernardini's stud fee could only increase. There's nothing to lose by running next year.

oh yeah...a comment albertrani made in that article i read puzzled me a bit...but now i think i get the connection.

he said he wasn't disappointed in bernardini....but what i didn't quite get, til now, is he said something about flower alley leaning on bernie a bit--and i wondered why he brought it up.
but then i just remembered, bluegrass cat was a pletcher...tommy really doesn't think pletcher only ran flower alley to try to mess up bernie, does he? or maybe i'm off base completely...just seemed strange in the context of the article.

I think there's a chance of a lot to lose, stud fee wise if the run him next year. But, with that said, I think they owe it to the horse to give him one more year to prove his mettle.

I've never been a fan of his but let me go on record to say that he proved a lot to me yesterday, talent-wise. He's a VERY good 3 yo... over-hyped and overrated? Yes, at this time. Given another year, he may prove himself a serious contender for one of the best..

I'd also like to point out that people are jumping on the jock for making his move too early. I honestly believe the connections wanted a champion and awe inspiring performance. I think they thought there would be a lot of day light between him and the field... my guess is... the race was executed just as it was planned... but they didnt count on Bernardini not being the best horse in the field.

I just read that now in the Blood Horse update -I didn't take it to mean that Todd ran FA to mess Bernardini up. I think Todd is too good a horseman to do that and has too much respect for Bernardini. IMO, any trainer or jockey that goes out of his way to hurt a horse's chances, at the expense of his own charge, is despicable. I feel bad for Tommy, but he's done an outstanding job with Bernardini. I'm sure he's frustrated - I was envisioning a romp, and I venture to guess he was too or, at the least, a win.

I'm still frustrated this morning, but I don't feel as badly as I did yesterday. It would make my year if they were to announce Bernardini returning to the races next year - I hate "what might have beens". They leave a bitter taste in the mouth and an early retirement for this extremely talented horse would be the biggest "what might have been" in my sports fandom. Well, maybe next to the AP Indy scratch on Derby eve. That still hurts....now that I think about it, I wonder if Indy was underrated. He won the Classic against a very good field in a hand ride...........

I don't see there being much to lose by running Bernardini next year because, if he does run, he will be even better than he was this year. I would expect him to put up terrific performances, win or lose. He'll get fine broodmares no matter what - he's a spectacular speciman, beautifully bred and extraordinarily talented -I'm not worried about that, even if at this point Bernardini couldn't command what he would have had he won yesterday. I think the Sheikh's reputation is on the line, in a way. He prides himself on being a sportsman and that image would be shattered forever if Bernardini is retired. I don't know that he cares about that, though. I'm sure he loves this horse and is very proud of him -then he should want to see Bernardini fulfill his potential on the track. He's got years to be a sire, only a short while to be a racehorse.

i agree on your take of the riding of the race. no doubt he was told to ride bernie like he was the best, and he did just that.

and yeah, betsy, i just put that up to get feedback from others about it--certainly is atypical for tommy to mention it. i hope he didn't think pletcher was trying anything, i don't think he was...i guess i'm just wondering if tommy thought pletcher was! kind of like that euro race a few weeks back....

Just because he should improve next year doesnt mean he will. And add possible injuries and other unforseen circumstances and you have a real crap shoot. His dam was a better 2 year old and his sister was fragile. There's a lot of variables you should take into account.

If he's retired tomorrow, he's almost guaranteed the best mares in the world. If he races unsuccessfully next year or is injured, there will be another "hype" runner to take some of those mares away. There always is...

Would I like to see him race next year? Absolutely. Would I blame the connections for making a shrewd business decision... no.

i don't think he comes back, not when they have discreet cat. he seems there banner carrier next year.

I think Castellano made his decision to move based on what Lava Man did. If you watch all of Lava Man's race the results are determined at the same spot of the track every single time. Lava Man made his typical move, and Castellano did the right thing by sending his horse. If Castellano waited to long, and it turned out that Lava Man could run on the track, we would have seen the same result we saw all summer in California.

maybe sibling rivarly will accomplish what we want to see...and the sheiks will both bring their horses back for a rematch.

I agree 100%. I don't think the move was too early. It seems that way now because he lost but I just think he lost to a horse that ran better than him. The move was fine. It beat 11 other horses and the one that it didn't beat, it may not have made a difference when he made the move. Also, the rider on Invasor was also making a move at the same time. It just wasn't as explosive as Bernardini's or as eye-catching because Bernardini's move put him to the lead while Invasor's only put him in contention.

I don't think Bernie will come back. He's too valuable and they won't risk it.

I still do not want to live with the "what if's" - this is racing. If the Sheikh is too afraid to race, he shouldn't be in the business. He should have more faith in his horse that he could come back and be even better next year -IMO, that is a risk worth taking, and I don't see it as a risk. Bernardini is already extremely good - the odds on him not making the leap from 3 to 4 and being better are slight.

I understand your points, but if the Sheikh retires him (presumably against the recommendation of Albertrani, etc...), I will be devastated and I would blame him.

retired
 

Equidaily had already posted the add on their website announcing Bernardidi's going to stud at a to be determined site. Why the conjecture ? :confused:

he could (altho i think this is NOT going to happen) run bernardini again this year, and try to go out a winner. obviously the chances of this happening are along the lines of not in a million years...

but maybe he'll be so po'd at losing to invasor he'll want another go at him.

You would be devasted. How devestated would you be if the horse gets seriously hurt next year and for some reason can't be a stud. How would you feel then? Its a lose lose either way. If you run him you run the risk of him getting hurt and possibly not being a stud. If you retire him, you take away much of the risk but you don't get to see him run. It's very simple. If your in it for the prestige you run him next year. If your in this to make money, you retire him.

Or they just pay out $5 million for insurance on him next year and they are covered either way. It's not like they can't afford it.

Insurance would be astronmical, I'm sure more then he would win in any races and it still doesn't protect the fact that you won't have have as a stallion.

What to do then? Everytime a promising horse runs big, retire him in case he gets hurt? I'd prefer to take my chances that Bernardini emerge unscathed next year so that he have the opportunity to fulfill his potential.

Of course, these are the only owners in the world for whom insurance costs can't possibly be an issue!

I would hope the fact that he didn't win the Classic might stick enough in the Sheik's craw that he would want to keep him racing for one more year for Bernardini's reputation. I noticed that before the race, Jerry Bailey was saying, "Rarified, brilliant, etc., etc, pick your word to describe Bernardini" and after the race he said, "And here Invasor runs by a very, very good horse in Bernardini"-- how fast the superlatives fall after a loss, huh? From being compared to Affirmed to "very good" in two short minutes.

Its a matter of breeding economics... the question arises, what would Bernardini have to do next year to make him even more valuable than he is at this moment? It would have to be a hell of a campaign... a Mineshaft like effort. He may have the talent, but he may not. Strike while the iron is hot.

And people dont put enough thought behind how hard it is to lose a horse as an owner. The connections lost their golden boy young in Dubai Millenum... this is probably the first horse that can be equated to him. Im sure that plays a role in treating this horse a little differently than most... and being that much more protective.

They have everything to lose and nothing to gain by running Bernardini another year.