This is my problem

[miraja2]

In addition to the Holy Bull, Florida Derby, and the Kentucky Derby, Barbaro also won a G3 turf race this year.
I don't think winning races like the Jim Dandy and the Travers will be enough for a horse like Bernardini (or someone else) unless they also the win BC Classic. I think ONLY a BC Classic victory + a good summer/fall campaign by someone will take the title from Barbaro.
Flower Alley won the Jim Dandy and the Travers last year and finished second in the BC Classic (along with winning the Lanes End in the spring) and he finished well behind Afleet Alex in the voting.....as he should have.
Barbaro was spectacular in the spring and I think it is right that only a spectacular performance in the fall would take it away from him.

Bernardini needs to win the Travers (no easy task) and a grade 1 in the fall against older horses and he will be 3yr old of the year.

[Betsy]

Originally Posted by miraja2

In addition to the Holy Bull, Florida Derby, and the Kentucky Derby, Barbaro also won a G3 turf race this year.
I don't think winning races like the Jim Dandy and the Travers will be enough for a horse like Bernardini (or someone else) unless they also the win BC Classic. I think ONLY a BC Classic victory + a good summer/fall campaign by someone will take the title from Barbaro.
Flower Alley won the Jim Dandy and the Travers last year and finished second in the BC Classic (along with winning the Lanes End in the spring) and he finished well behind Afleet Alex in the voting.....as he should have.
Barbaro was spectacular in the spring and I think it is right that only a spectacular performance in the fall would take it away from him.

Afleet Alex won two Classics - why is everyone forgetting that the Preakness counts just as much as the Derby? If a turf stake early in the year is the deciding factor in the award voting, that will be a disgrace. The Travers blows the Florida Derby away in terms of importance and Bernardini hasn't been spectacular? I'm sorry - Barbaro was not that great in the Holy Bull and most people were not all that impressed with the Florida Derby (no one called him spectacular after that).

There's still plenty of racing to be done - as a Bernardini fan, I hope that he makes this argument moot.