Watched Bernadini work this morning-

[Downthestretch55]

I've stayed away from saying anything on this thread since it showed up.
A tip of the hat to Oracle for sharing what he saw.
If I remember, on a previous thread, when Rupert asked me how I could tell that Tin Man was running "choppy" on the backstretch, when I couldn't see his legs. I didn't respond.
So, now I'll say what I look for...and I expect some to "blast" away at me for saying so.
When a horse is "put together", all parts work in a synchronized manner.
One thing I look at is how level the horse's head is.
For those that have ever watched a cat run, did you ever notice that its head isn't bouncing up and down? It's level.
Besides an easy stride, absence of the head bobbing is something I look for.
Bernardini has it. Many others don't.

Just my two pennies worth.

[Nostradamus]

Originally Posted by Betsy

I'm not sure what your comment has to do with this topic. We've talked Bernardini to death here and we'll find out more next week. Regardless of what you think about this colt, objectively speaking, he's a magnificent physical speciman with a spectacular way of going. Do you dispute that?

The comment has plenty to do with the topic. Read the thread. He is an excellent horse but just like I tell the lunatic Showing Up fans, he has to beat older horses before we make him Secretariat. Bernardini has beaten tired horses and injured horses in the Preakness and a group of mediocre horses in the Jim Dandy. I think he wins the Travers easily because the others are weak but Invasor, Sun King, Flower Alley, Lava Man, all have the ability to pressure him and make him work for his win. He has not had to work for anything. Horse racing is full of great looking horses that couldn't get it done when they stepped up. Bernardini is no better than a Point Given or Empire Maker right now. People already are comparing him to Spectacular Bid which is ridiculous.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

The comment has plenty to do with the topic. Read the thread. He is an excellent horse but just like I tell the lunatic Showing Up fans, he has to beat older horses before we make him Secretariat. Bernardini has beaten tired horses and injured horses in the Preakness and a group of mediocre horses in the Jim Dandy. I think he wins the Travers easily because the others are weak but Invasor, Sun King, Flower Alley, Lava Man, all have the ability to pressure him and make him work for his win. He has not had to work for anything. Horse racing is full of great looking horses that couldn't get it done when they stepped up. Bernardini is no better than a Point Given or Empire Maker right now. People already are comparing him to Spectacular Bid which is ridiculous.

The Travers is weak? Isn't Bluegrass Cat still pointed to that race? I take it that you didn't see his Haskell.

[sumitas]

Think we'll get $5.00 for the exacta in the Travers ?

[brockguy]

will this fella face older horses before he goes to the Classic??

[Nostradamus]

Originally Posted by kentuckyrosesinmay

The Travers is weak? Isn't Bluegrass Cat still pointed to that race? I take it that you didn't see his Haskell.

I saw his mediocre Haskell where that big time horse Praying For Cash got up for second. He will get thumped by 6 or 7 by Bernardini just like Barbaro did to him. He has been beaten by some very average horses in his career.

[Nostradamus]

Originally Posted by brockguy

will this fella face older horses before he goes to the Classic??

He is likely to face Invasor in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. There is no way they will train him up to the BCC. It is another 2 1/2 months away.

[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by Nostradamus

I saw his mediocre Haskell where that big time horse Praying For Cash got up for second. He will get thumped by 6 or 7 by Bernardini just like Barbaro did to him. He has been beaten by some very average horses in his career.

I will agree that I think that Bernardini will crush the Travers field, but Bluegrass Cat's Haskell was not a mediocre race, and Bluegrass Cat is much more than a mediocre horse. He ran an outstanding race in the Haskell, and I think that he is a better horse now than he was at the Derby.

Bluegrass Cat got beat by Deputy Glitters in the Tampa Bay Derby because he lost a shoe. He got beat on that freaky Keeneland racecourse because Todd wanted him cranked for the Derby, and I don't quite think BCG liked the surface. He got beat by a great horse in Barbaro in the Derby. He got beat in the Belmont by a very good horse in Jazil because Jazil got a wonderful ride by Jara. Jazil is not just a medicre horse either and is in the upper tier of three year olds. I also don't think that a mile and a half is quite BCG's favorite distance. Really, I don't see where BCG has ever run a really bad race in his entire career. He is a very consistent and promising colt. So in my book, BCG got beat only by Barbaro and Jazil because he had legitimate excuses in the other races that he lost.

more information from a Dave Grening article at DRF.com

The work, with exercise rider Simon Harris aboard, was the second-fastest of 20 at the distance. It was almost three seconds faster than Bernardini's five-furlong move last Friday, which went in 1:03.48. Bernardini, who followed his Preakness win with a nine-length win in the Jim Dandy on July 31, is being prepared for a start in the $1 million Travers on Aug. 26.

Harris let Bernardini get a strong run-up to the five-furlong pole, and Bernardini was timed in fractions of 12.75 seconds, 24.86, 37.03, and he got his last quarter in 23.71 seconds. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.63 and went out a mile in 1:41.64.

"I wanted him to do more today," said Albertrani, who watched the work atop his stable pony. "I told Simon to be sure to let him gallop out and get something out of it this time. It's really the last time we're going to put a strong work into him."

The main track has been extremely deep and demanding the last week, something Harris said he felt, but his horse didn't.

"From the quarter pole on he was taking me along, but I could feel the difference in the track," Harris said. "You know me, I stayed out wide again, but you can feel it. It's nothing to him."

Nice work for him

http://www.drf.com/news/article/77667.html

[Betsy]

As much as Bluegrass Cat has improved, or Bright One for that matter, Bernardini has done the same.......scary thought. Well, we've only got about a week before the big race. I'm ready for it now.