[kentuckyrosesinmay]

Originally Posted by pgardn

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.

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.