Bernardini

In this continuing series, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack catches up with the connections of promising maidens to keep on your radar. It's admittedly very early days, but one of the more promising 2-year-olds to debut thus far at the prestigious Saratoga meeting didn't even get her picture taken. Godolphin homebred Spelterini (f, 2, Bernardini--Keepshercool, by Smart Strike) came flying home to finish an eye-catching second on the Spa's opening day program July 14. Last of six after a slow start from her inside draw, the 13-1 shot was ridden...

In this new TDN column, Christie DeBernardis will tell the stories of popular and/or accomplished former racehorses who are now enjoying second careers as show horses, track ponies, etc. The first two foals out of the mighty Zenyatta, Cozmic One (Bernardini) and Ziconic (Tapit), never reached the winner's circle during their brief careers on the racetrack, but they are both thriving in their second careers as jumpers and ambassadors for off-track Thoroughbreds. The elder brother, Cozmic One's second career has been well documented in these pages (Cozmic One: Shining New...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 4th-BEL, $90K, MSW, 3yo/up, f, 6f, 2:32 p.m. Godolphin takes the wraps off 3-year-old filly AMARETTI (Bernardini) Sunday. The homebred is out of the Smart Strike mare Caramel Snap, herself a half-sister to MGISW and Darley stallion Frosted (Tapit) and from the family that produced MGISW Midshipman (Unbridled's Song) and MGISP Solomini (Curlin). Amaretti is a half-sister to GII Lexus Raven Run S. winner Caramel Swirl (Union Rags). She's been working over the Belmont training track, going five furlongs from the gate in a bullet...

TIMONIUM, MD - With a $3.55-million son of Bernardini providing the auction's biggest fireworks, the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale concluded another record-setting renewal in Timonium Tuesday. At the conclusion of business, 391 horses had sold for a gross of $37,297,700--bettering the sale's previous high mark of $33,692,000 set just last year. The average of $95,391 was another record, bettering the mark of $94,375 set last year. The median dipped to $47,000, just 6% off the 2020 record of $50,000. "Last year was such a wow year and, when...

TIMONIUM, MD -  Just minutes into the second day of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale under-tack show, a colt by Bernardini (hip 385) zipped the week's fastest furlong work of :9 4/5 Wednesday in Timonium. It was the first time since 2012 that a juvenile had shaded :10 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds oval. The dark bay colt is consigned to the Midlantic sale by Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock on behalf of breeders Chester and Mary Broman. "The expectations were pretty high," said Sequel's Carlos Manresa. "Like most...

Winner of the GIII With Anticipation at Saratoga as a 2-year-old, Coinage returned to the winner's circle once again in the Palm Beach S. despite his early antics and notched another black-type victory to his resume. The chestnut placed third in the Nownownow S. at Monmouth Park Sept. 26 and weakened to ninth Nov. 5 at Del Mar in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last year. Last out Feb. 5 in the GIII Kitten's Joy S. at this venue, he set all the pace, dueled in the lane and...

Lightly raced Speaker's Corner had earned some strong speed figures up to this point for a horse without a stakes win, and he kicked off his 4-year-old campaign auspiciously with a breakthrough tally in Florida. A second-out graduate in New York as a fall juvenile over a very salty bunch of future stakes runners (Caddo River, Greatest Honour, Miles D, Bourbonic and Original), Speaker's Corner resurfaced off the long lay-off to crush Saratoga allowance foes by open lengths. The GI Pennsylvania Derby next out perhaps proved too much too soon,...

7th-Churchill Downs, $119,047, Msw, 11-20, 2yo, f, 1 1/16m, 1:45.44, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. LA CRETE (f, 2, Medaglia d'Oro--Cavorting {MGISW, $2,063,000}, by Bernardini), a half-sister to Clairiere (Curlin), GISW, $1,290,992, took care of business impressively on debut going a tough, two-turn distance of 1 1/16 miles here. Facing only seven rivals, the 8-5 favorite caught a flyer beneath Joel Rosario and shot out to the front. The Stonestreet homebred showed the way while uncontested through fractions of :23.53 and :47.84. She let it out a notch rounding the far...

The controlling speed of Saturday's GI Woodward S. on paper, Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini) made best use of his best asset and took them gate-to-wire to earn an overdue Grade I victory. Favored Maxfield (Street Sense) completed the exacta, while Dr Post (Quality Road) flashed home from the tail to be third. Looking to remain perfect in three starts since an amicable trainer switch from Tommy Drury to Bill Mott, Art Collector bounced beautifully from gate three and was soon in front for Luis Saez, as 64-1 Mo Gotcha...

6th-Ellis, $51,000, Msw, 8-20, 2yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:15.87, ft, 4 1/2 lengths. MATAREYA (f, 2, Pioneerof the Nile--Innovative Idea {GSW, $229,343}, by Bernardini), whose dam's signature win came in the 2016 GIII Groupie Doll S. here, was coupled in the wagering at 9-5 with Brendan Walsh-trained fellow Godolphin homebred  Dreamalot (Ghostzapper). Straight to the front, the bay doled out splits of :22.09 and :45.07 and turned for home in command. Dreamalot came with a fence run and briefly looked like she'd give Matareya a challenge, but the front-runner shut...

Could happen, you know. Within the random weavings of the Thoroughbred, after all, it's always tempting to discern some pattern suggestive of a coherent, governing narrative. And if Silver State (Hard Spun) were to win the GI Whitney S., and in the process happened to become the 9,446th winner saddled by his trainer, it might well feel as though 35 years of skill and endeavor, processed daily through random fluctuations of good or bad luck, have all led logically and inexorably to this pinnacle. The trouble is that whoever came...

Classic winner and leading sire Bernardini (A.P. Indy-Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American) was euthanized July 30 at Darley's Jonabell Farm in Central Kentucky due to complications from laminitis. The 18-year-old stallion, a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed's operation, has stood at Jonabell since he was retired for the 2007 breeding season. "Bernardini was one of a kind," said Michael Banahan, director of farm operations for Godolphin USA. "From the day he was born, he exuded class. He was that crop's best foal, best yearling, and best racehorse. His brilliance was only...