Superfectablog v3.0 » Bernardini

Zenyatta + Bernardini and Other (Possibly Overlooked) Bloodline News

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:47:58 +0000

The lucky stallion

As has been widely reported, Zenyatta has a date with Bernardini. I had assumed she would go to see his sire, A.P. Indy, but the reasoning behind the match makes perfect sense – Zenyatta has a 2-year-old half-sister by Bernardini called Eblouissante, which helped make his offspring something of a known quantity (insofar as any predictions can ever be made about what will actually happen in the breeding shed). But A.P. Indy himself is still very much a part of the family; Zenyatta’s talented older half-sister, Balance, had an attractive bay colt named Mr Besilu by the senior stallion. (As an aside, it’s worth noting that he’s got his own Facebook page. Obviously.) In September, he was the sales-topper at Keeneland’s yearling sale, changing hands for $4.2 million – so it would seem there’s a good chance that the Zenyatta-Bernardini mating will, at the very least, produce a good-looking foal.

The matchup makes sense from a conformation perspective as well; while Bernardini is certainly a good few inches smaller than Zenyatta, his look is more ‘refined’ and a smaller (well, smaller than Zenyatta) foal would probably be welcomed, since (as a very, very general rule) it tends to be more difficult to keep a larger horse sound. And it’s hard to argue with his offspring on the track – I’ve been very impressed by his European runners thus far (especially Biondetti), and his North American results are equally notable. He’s so popular that his book is full – Ed DeRosa has an amusing anecdote about Jim Rome’s filly being turned away (and I’d love to hear Rome take this up with the Sklar Brothers). I’d still like to see Zenyatta go to Einstein or a European-based stallion down the line, but it’s difficult to find anything to complain about in this matchup.

There was other bloodline news this week that may have been easy to miss with all the Zenyatta publicity – Deluxe, a daughter of über-broodmare Hasili, has come from France to join Bill Mott’s barn. She’s had some ups and downs on the track so far, but given the success her siblings have had in America, she has every opportunity to excel here. The same article noted that Proviso, one of my favorite grass fillies, has left Mott’s care to start her own breeding career with a visit to Street Cry.

I admit I have no obvious names for the eventual Zenyatta-Bernardini foal, but that should discourage you from entering the ‘Name the Foal‘ contest. Let’s go beyond Zendini and Bernyatta…

Another Reason Not to Shuttle

admin — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:50:00 +0000

It’s getting a little coverage in the trade publications in the US, but the outbreak of equine influenza in Australia is already having a major effect on the sport Down Under. Perhaps uniquely, it is affecting both racing and breeding:

Racing officials announced early today that horses from the Centennial Park stables had returned positive tests to the highly contagious disease. This came within days of 52 horses being locked down at the Eastern Creek quarantine centre.

Most of those impounded at Eastern Creek are thoroughbred stallions worth about $500 million. They were due to begin serving some of the 30,000 mares registered in Australia when the breeding season starts on September 1.

The problems began when an ‘unnamed shuttle stallion’ tested positive for the disease earlier in the week:

THE multimillion-dollar Australian thoroughbred breeding industry was last night thrown into chaos with confirmation that a shuttle stallion has become the first horse in this country to test positive to the highly contagious virus equine influenza.

The unnamed stallion is one of 52 horses quarantined at Eastern Creek, west of Sydney.

…

Coolmore Australia’s general manager, Michael Kirwan, said last night that he had not been notified which stallion had contracted the virus. But, he said, Encosta De Lago had been vaccinated for equine influenza.

“None of our nine stallions at Eastern Creek are under medication,” he said. “I know from my last report that all our horses are healthy and have normal temperatures.”

Encosta De Lago is scheduled to have a meeting with Makybe Diva in the near future, so his quarantine is a major story to the casual fan as well as the confirmed railbird — so perhaps it is not unusual that his name is the one that seems to pop up in each news story:

The federal Agricultural Minister, Peter McGauran, said the suspected diagnosis of equine flu in a quarantined stallion was the biggest risk ever faced by the thoroughbred industry.

“A number of these stallions are between $100,000 and $200,000 per serve, so you can quickly do the arithmetic and see that millions of dollars are being lost. [But] it would be infinitesimal compared to the long-term effects if [the flu] was to escape into the wider horse population.”

The stallion at the centre of the scare is believed to be Encosta De Lago, which is quarantined at Eastern Creek.

And also from the Sydney Morning Herald:

Asked for a value on the stallions in lockdown, Bester replied: “How long is a piece of string? You can pluck a figure out of the air,” while also unwilling to reveal if Encosta De Lago was one of the three horses that became sick. “There is a lot of speculation, and I don’t want to repeat the rumours,” he said.

Not that anyone needed help on the rumor end of things:

In a statement issued by the office of Peter McGauran, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, testing of one horse at Eastern Creek showed “clinical signs consistent with EI and blood tests indicate a strong suspicion of a recently acquired infection”.
On Sydney radio station 2KY yesterday, McGauran indicated the suspect stallion had been infected by another stallion that had been shipped in from Japan.

“I’m afraid one of Australia’s best-known stallions has all the clinical signs of EI and the vets think it is almost certain it is EI so we’ve locked the door and shut the gate,” McGauran said.

“He (the stallion) serves five mares a day at around a fee of $200,000. He will be out of service for several weeks and it’s a heavy loss.

“But it’s not that stallion’s fault. It’s another stallion that’s been to Japan and although that horse is not showing the same coughing and high temperature, it’s probably the transmitter.”

It seems Coolmore and Darley have been equally hard-hit:

McGauran said up to 25 shuttle stallions were in quarantine facilities. Among those affected are nine of Coolmore Stud’s stallion roster including Encosta De Lago, as well as Rock Of Gibraltar, Choisir, Danehill Dancer and newcomer Holy Roman Emperor.
Sheik Mohammed’s Darley Stud has been hard hit with 17 of its team quarantined, including Elusive Quality and Exceed And Excel.

On the racing end, it seems likely that some individual racing days may be canceled over the next few days or weeks, but that the Melbourne Cup will not be affected — yet. However, the worst case scenario could look something like this:

“In most cases, it is not life-threatening,” he said. “[But] the illness is such it would stop a horse racing for a month or so.”

But there is a much greater fear. Suann recalled an outbreak in South Africa a couple of years ago. “It, like Australia, had never had an outbreak but when it arrived it spread through the population and basically shut down racing for a prolonged period,” he said.

Given the international angle to this story, US racing fans should be concerned not just about the breeding end of things (although I’m not sure who, beyond the accountants for Coolmore and Darley, is convinced that stallions need to serve so many mares in both hemispheres — I see this as bad from an immediate health perspective as well as an object lesson in how to create a genetic bottleneck), but in terms of the upcoming Breeders’ Cup as well; just one chance infection from a horse flying in from abroad could jeopardize the event. Yes, that’s why we have quarantines, but obviously, as in this instance, that’s not always enough.

Edit: A few more quarantined stallions are named here: Encosta de Lago, Rock of Gibraltar, Elusive Quality, Exceed and Excel, Danehill Dancer, Choisir, Holy Roman Emperor, Aussie Rules, Bernadini, Librettist, Country Reel, Snitzel and Black Hawk.

Turn Around, Bright Eyes

admin — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 18:39:00 +0000

I’ve had ample time to consider my Eclipse Award would-be votes; now that we have finalists, here are my thoughts:

Steeplechase: McDynamo — I’m not sure why they bothered putting anyone else as a finalist, we know he’s the one.

Older Male: Looks like Invasor. If only we had more older males to consider…

Breeder: I think breeding the Kentucky Derby and 2000 Guineas winners in the same year should be enough – but tack on Barbaro’s saga and you get another unbeatable choice in the Jacksons.

2YO Colt: It’s close between Street Sense and NoBiz Like Shobiz. Street Sense just wins this one by beating very formidable competition in the Breeders’ Cup, even if (according to legend) that did doom his Derby chances.

Older Female: I’d like to see Round Pond back to take the next installment, but Fleet Indian gets my nod.

Owner: Another easy win for Lael Stables here, for obvious reasons.

2YO Filly: Dreaming of Anna is moving like a tremendous machine in this category.

Sprinter: I’m not convinced Discreet Cat belongs in this category, Henny Hughes was retired too early and so only Thor’s Echo is left to take the prize.

Trainer: Todd Pletcher may have broken the earnings mark, but I still wonder about those drug positives…

3YO Colt: Here’s where it gets tricky. If we are basing this on what they did on the track, Barbaro won more consistently over more surfaces. Had Bernardini not been retired (or won the Classic) my opinion might have been different. Discreet Cat might be the fastest horse in the world, but he’s made so few starts that I tend to forget about him — and I’m a racing fan. Obviously if we factor in off-the-track stories, Barbaro wins by miles. So, Barbaro. While we are on the subject, I would like to add my congratulations to Dick Jerardi for his Media Eclipse Award honoring his coverage of Barbaro.

Male Turf: I’ve liked and undervalued Miesque’s Approval all year – I’ll finally recognize him here.

Jockey: One word: Prado.

3YO Filly: Wait a While – she is all versatility and class.

Female Turf: Ouija Board, naturally.

Apprentice Jockey: Julien Leparoux. It’s hard to lose this one when you are North America’s winningest jockey.

Horse of the Year: Ouija Board. Again, if we’re going purely on racing performance, no one has faced tougher competition on more continents than Ouija Board and she has shown herself to be a champion in every possible way. She was facing the world’s best in almost every race, not simply saving it up for Breeders’ Cup day. If one aim of the Horse of the Year award is to encourage that level of sportsmanship from owners and trainers, her connections deserve the recognition just as much as she does. After all, we have named a race after her and she’ll be a Kentucky resident soon enough, so she qualifies for ‘our’ award in my opinion.

Tags:
Horse Racing, Barbaro, Ouija Board

Comings and Goings

admin — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 18:28:00 +0000

The Breeders’ Cup may be over (and, sadly, a chapter closed when Pine Island was buried at Claiborne) but auction and retirement season is in full swing. Just about 48 hours after competing in the Distaff, Sharp Lisa went through the ring, bringing a price of $3.4 million. Apparently she’s set for a visit with George Washington. Summerly also brought a high price ($3.3 million) and will be taking a little trip to see Distorted Humor.

Half Ours was sold for $6.1 million but at least he’ll remain in training, unlike some horses (more on that below). I do wonder, though, if he also has the ‘bad feet’ that Unbridled Song’s offspring are always said to have. I’d like to see some actual statistics on it. Madcap Escapade and her dam, Sassy Pants, both brought high prices as well.

As expected, Bernardini and Henny Hughes are heading off to stud. Sayeth the Darley rep:

“These are the supreme Thoroughbreds of their generation and each bested older horses, too,” said Darley’s Dan Pride. “They are well-bred and exceptionally attractive. They were not only brilliant, but they came back for more time and again. We couldn’t be more thrilled than to have the chance to stand them.”

I would take exception to the ‘coming back again and again’ notion — that would involve lifetime starts at least in the double digits for me. Ouija Board (“coolness personified” which is something I can agree with), with 21 lifetime starts, came back again and again. Bernardini didn’t even come back when a horse started to pass him. So much for longevity. At least Invasor is staying in training…for now. I predict a sudden retirement after the Dubai World Cup. For those who enjoy debating the influence of Dubai on American racing, this is another negative point. Injecting a lot of money into auctions can be great for the local economy and small breeders, but retiring uninjured 3-year-olds to stud (particularly when you don’t need the cash) further hurts racing.

As an aside, let’s look at some of those instances in which the big price tag has not paid off — Jalil cost $9.7 million and didn’t do so well in his first start — and (not to leave Coolmore out of the equation) whither The Green Monkey?

In other retirement news, Film Maker has officially been retired and is booked to Storm Cat. Her 27 lifetime starts and many gutsy finishes also do a lot more for me than Bernardini’s temporary (and, seemingly, accidental) domination over his competition.

How ’bout that Melbourne Cup finish? Sunday Silence continues to power Japanese racing.

Barbaro’s cast is off and there are a few good articles (here too); there is some video here but I suggest you mute the audio — not only do they not know the word ‘laminitis’ they apparently think that when the next press release comes out (as per usual) on the 14th, we’ll know that he’s going to recover fully. Interesting interpretation. Ignoring the ignorant report, it’s still good news.

Finally, for those of you who worked in Silicon Valley in the 90s and wondered whatever happened to Mahir (which, for some odd reason, I was just the other day), he’s busy trying to sue over Borat. Now that’s seriously funny.

Tags:
Horse Racing Bernardini, Henny Hughes, Barbaro

Breeders’ Cup Wrap-Up

admin — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 18:44:00 +0000

Well, another Breeders’ Cup is over, but at least I’m only down $40. Here are my thoughts on each race:

Juvenile Fillies
Dreaming of Anna lived up to her pre-race hype; I’d be most interested to see her mature into a turf miler, though, rather than heading toward the Oaks next year.

Juvenile
Well, it was certainly impressive to see Street Sense’s 10-length victory; whether we’ve just seen his career-best will remain to be seen, but Circular Quay did better than I expected and Great Hunter was in the mix as well. I still think we’ll start to see next year’s real Triple Crown contenders over the next few weeks, but it was a much better showing than I anticipated.

Filly & Mare Turf
More brilliance from Ouija Board, of course, and fine efforts by Film Maker and Honey Ryder. Hitting the board in this race three times (particularly behind Ouija Board) as Film Maker has is nothing to be ashamed of. She also proved (again) she’s as game as they come. Wait a While was a bit disappointing, but I am looking forward to seeing her come back next year for another shot.

Sprint
I’d thrown out Bordonaro because I felt we’d seen his best in his last outing (which was very impressive), but didn’t expect Henny Hughes to be quite so lackluster. I like Thor’s Echo but I’d have never picked him. It’s nice to see his good second in the Golden Shaheen was no fluke. It didn’t exactly help my Pick Three, but it was a fun race to watch.

Mile
After I declared that Miesque’s Approval and Better Talk Now were fantastic but weren’t going to hit the board, they clearly had it in for me. Apart from Gorella’s poor showing, it was a great race. Top tip for ESPN: when you tell us that Miesque’s Approval’s ‘grandfather’ won this race as well, you get a pass for getting it wrong once. Repeating it is not cool. If you didn’t know Miesque is a mare, you might want to mark that one down for future reference. (In case you were wondering where she is now, she lives at Lane’s End, near her son Kingmambo).

Distaff
This was obviously a tough one to watch. On the one hand, Round Pond ran a great race (my only decent payoff of the day), and it was wonderful to see Michael Matz and Edgar Prado back together in the winner’s circle. Seeing two top horses go down was not part of the plan. Pine Island was never much to look at, but she was a classy runner. At least the news on Fleet Indian was more positive, although it really didn’t look good from the coverage. Another top tip for ESPN: let’s not keep showing the fatal breakdown — twice was too much. I think we’ve already been here with Go for Wand (I wonder if the Distaff statistically has more fatal breakdowns — it seems unlikely, but I’m curious). The rest of the coverage of the injuries was reasonably tasteful — letting the viewing public know what was going on was as far as it needed to go. Clearly the status of the horse is reflected in the injury coverage; when Funfair broke down in the Mile last year, mention of it was more of an afterthought. (We were at the race and saw it all too well; on television it was much harder to see what took place in that instance). Get well soon, Fleet Indian, and congrats to Round Pond. Note to the Baltimore Sun: Distaff implies female, last time I checked.

Turf
Another nice ride by Housewives’ Fav(u)orite^tm Frankie Dettori (now also the Shoemaker Award winner) got Red Rocks into the winner’s circle; as mentioned above, Better Talk Now ran a great race to get up for second — Cacique didn’t really bring his A game to this one (rather like Hurricane Run). Nice showing by English Channel, though.

Classic
Kenny Mayne called it again! Invasor was, indeed, the best. Bernardini made a move on the turn for home that looked quite impressive — and Invasor just inhaled him. If this is what happens when Bernardini finally looks an opponent in the eyes, it wasn’t much of a response. It was hardly an embarassing defeat, but I would hope it was enough to keep Bernardini in training next year. I sincerely doubt it, but there’s no harm in hoping. Premium Tap’s solid third has been somewhat overlooked, but he and Giacomo were impressive. I’ve never been a Giacomo fan, but he ran a great race too — his fouth-place finish was not unimpressive.

Conclusions: Post one was clearly the place to be; earning over two million dollars in defeat is not a terrible fate; we need more research into track safety.

Tags:
Horse Racing, Breeders’ Cup

Breeders’ Cup Picks

admin — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 17:08:00 +0000

The European perspective seems a bit glum in some quarters; in others, they are simply surprised that George Washington is not being seen as a conquering hero by the Americans.

Here in the States, there is comparatively little Bernardini-centered coverage compared with a number of European articles focusing on star horses; one of the few is here but it does seem his potential talents are being overlooked (or simply assumed) while the spotlight remains on his owners (or, more specifically, their vast wealth). I’d prefer to see what he’s really capable of instead of hearing about Dubai, but it seems that’s the angle everyone is going for.

But I digress…on to my picks:

Juvenile Fillies
I’m not overly-impressed by any in this group so far, but I like Dreaming of Anna‘s workouts and think Octave could do more down the line. Frankly, it’s something of a toss-up.
Dreaming of Anna/Octave exacta box
Longshot: Gatorize

Juvenile
Again, with the 2-year-old colts, I believe we have yet to see the best of the crop at this point; I wasn’t convinced from his last performance that Circular Quay wanted to go any sort of distance, but Great Hunter and Scat Daddy have looked good (and besides, Great Hunter is a local boy). I like Teuflesburg and I am not sure why.
Great Hunter, Scat Daddy exacta
Longshot: Teuflesburg

Filly & Mare Turf
This is one I’m really looking forward to; I love Ouija Board and hope she goes out on a win, but I expect a great performance from many others in the race — Wait a While, Film Maker and Honey Ryder are all possible spoilers. I’ll limit myself to two choices, but I’d love to see Wait a While back next year.
Ouija Board
Wait a While
Longshot: I don’t think I’ll bother on this one

Sprint
The Sprint also showcases a deep field. On paper, it looks like Henny Hughes or Pomeroy; while there are others on the board with shorter prices, I think Lewis Michael has been flying just under the radar and could pull an upset.
Henny Hughes, Pomeroy exacta
Longshot: Lewis Michael

Mile
This is another tricky one, also full of horses I really like. I love Gorella (and I always pick the girl against the boys), so she’s a natural choice. Aragorn and Miesque’s Approval are other favorites of mine, and Aussie Rules at 10-1 is a fantastic price. I don’t want to ignore Librettist either, but I’m still picking Aussie Rules over him. Speaking of Gorella, anyone want to buy her dam?
Gorella
Gorella/Aussie Rules exacta box
Longshot: Ad Valorem

Distaff
It’s Fleet Indian all the way. Balletto and Round Pond will give her a run for her money, but I’m singling her.
Fleet Indian
Longshot: Round Pond

Turf
Hurricane Run is a deserving favorite, but Cacique and English Channel have scores to settle with each other. It’s great to see Better Talk Now back for another shot too — and at 12-1, he’s my longshot without question. Otherwise, I freely admit this is chalkier than chalk could be.
Hurricane Run, Cacique, English Channel trifecta box
Longshot: Better Talk Now

The Classic
Obviously leaving out Bernardini would be foolish; however, I still like the Europeans for a little value, so I’m throwing in George Washington and David Junior as well. I am a big fan of both Lava Man and Perfect Drift and believe they will run well, but that it just won’t be their day. Check out this hagiographic article on George Washington before you make your choice. Speaking of sainthood, contrast this article in USA Today on the Maktoums to the Beyer one from the Washington Post the other day. Interesting.
Bernardini, George Washington, Lava Man trifecta box
David Junior, Bernardini, Perfect Drift trifecta box
Longshot: Flower Alley – hey, you never know.

Tags:
Horse Racing, Breeders’ Cup

Dylan Thomas May Need A Drink

admin — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 21:56:00 +0000

Bernardini — what else is there to say about the Jockey Club Gold Cup? He never seemed to break a sweat. I did feel badly for Dylan Thomas; he’s a fantastic horse, but he clearly hated the surface (and it is interesting to see dirt described as an ‘artificial surface’ as the Independent does — this is perhaps the most animated discussion of the race I’ve seen). Perhaps the second most impressive performance on Saturday was from Aussie Rules in the Shadwell Turf Mile; it must be nice to have some choices as far as who you’re sending on to the Mile (see George Washington, below). Aragorn looked great at the distance as well.

In the mile-and-a-half category, English Channel looked good, although I was more impressed by Freedonia; I’ll be interested in seeing her down the line.

Henny Hughes was the predictable Vosburgh winner; quite the opposite to the peculiar Spinster results. It was nice to see Fleet Indian challenged a bit — she showed some grit in edging out Balletto. I think I called Honey Ryder in the Flower Bowl, didn’t I? Nope, I had Angara. Typical!

Lava Man looked good in the Goodwood, but I’m still not convinced he’s got any sort of shot against Bernardini beyond the ‘it’s horse racing/anything can happen’ scenario. He is a much more legitimate contender than Giacomo, however; no, he didn’t look bad getting up for third, but the Classic this year? Really? I had a lot more confidence in Brother Derek’s performance — he looked more like his old self again.

While we know Dylan Thomas did not enjoy the dirt, do we have evidence George Washington does? It’s an interesting idea to point him to the Classic, but the mile really seems like his best distance. One wonders how much of this is simply Coolmore throwing everything they have at Bernardini. At least it looks as though Invasor is back on track for the race.

Finally, some great Barbaro summaries and photos are available here. (And don’t miss the articles here and here). Can you tell I enjoy my new job?

Tags:
Horse Racing, Bernardini, Barbaro

Party in Dubai

admin — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 18:13:00 +0000

By now Bernardini’s emphatic win in the Travers has been well-analyzed and he certainly does seem to be the horse to beat now. It will be interesting to see him match up against Invasor in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, since he seems to be his only real rival at this point (although I am looking forward to Jazil’s return). While Bluegrass Cat seemed thoroughly overmatched, we’ll never know how much of that was due to the career-ending injury he sustained at some point in the race — he’s already recuperating in Lexington.

Despite the depth of this year’s three-year-old crop, it’s still unfortunate that Bernardini and Barbaro never faced one another; we could have had a very interesting rivalry. At least recent reports from New Bolton are positive. I am curious to see how many of the (uninjured) top horses from this year return as four-year-olds. (Aside: note the entertaining penultimate paragraph in the SI.com article — who knew that Came Home, Cherokee Run and Seeking the Gold were back in training as two-year-olds? Surely the copyeditor is familiar with the names of such prominent stallions…)

The rest of the weekend was success upon success for the various branches of the Maktoum family (whether as Darley, Godolphin or Zabeel) were represented by winners including Discreet Cat, Henney Hughes, Dubai Escapade and Ashkal Way. While they hardly need the cash, a few days of rich payoffs must be nice after investing so much in the sport.

In other news, there would seem to be some glimmer of hope for Lost in the Fog; he is undergoing treatment to attempt to shrink his tumors to the point where they could potentially be removed surgically. It’s got to be worth a shot.

Tags:
Horse Racing, Bernardini, Lost in the Fog, Barbaro

Travers Weekend Preview

admin — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 14:16:00 +0000

While on paper we finally get a showdown between Bernardini and Bluegrass Cat, the Blood-Horse has a wonderfully-titled article pointing out that there’s more to the Travers than the two headliners: Travers Analysis: Pletcher and the Accidental Rabbits. I do like the suggestion of High Cotton as a spoiler, although I really feel that Bernardini is going to trounce the field.

The Kings Bishop is shaping up to be an interesting one as well — again, athough Henny Hughes and Songster are the featured performers, I am curious to see what Lewis Michael (previously seen as Third Spear Carrier to Barbaro’s leading role in the Tropical Park Derby) does at this distance (if he doesn’t go in the St. Louis Derby, of course — he’s entered in both). Fleet Indian is looking good for the Personal Ensign as well.

Lawyer Ron is back in the previously-mentioned St. Louis Derby; an article on the genesis of said race is here. I am also curious to see if Kid Lemonade turns up; I do think he’s improving and he had a nice workout recently.

In other news, it looks like Declan’s Moon had a legitimate excuse for his poor showing last time out — he’s got a lung infection. Perhaps we’re seeing shades of Afleet Alex.

In Barbaro-related news, there’s some nice new video of him grazing which is worth a look; Lael Stables are sending out 2-year-old filly Enticing against the older boys today at York. (While in York, I always recommend a visit to the Jorvik Viking Centre. But that might just be me).

Tags:
Horse Racing, Travers, Declan’s Moon, Barbaro

Impressive…most impressive

admin — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 12:51:00 +0000

Bernardini demonstrated he was the real deal in the Jim Dandy last weekend; he really looked as though he were out for a casual stroll while the rest of the field labored behind him. Sunriver apparently came out with a minor injury (and probably didn’t think much of the sloppy track) so that explains his performance. While he isn’t on the same level as his sister Ashado at this point, he does seem like a nice horse; I’d like to see him next year as well.

In less positive news, New Joysey Jeff was put down after breaking his leg at Del Mar during a workout, which presumably adds more fuel to the fire about the state of the turf course there. ESPN recounts his peculiar career in the article as well as the rather horrific details surrounding his injury and chain of events that followed (notably the clearly-doomed horse having to hobble to the ambulance since it couldn’t make it to him). While his injury clearly was not something he could have survived, there had to be a better way to deal with the situation.

While on the subject of injuries, Barbaro is ‘a happy horse‘ despite his situation according to the Washington Post; there are more details from Michael Matz here. There is another article comparing Barbaro’s intelligence to that of Beautiful Jim Key and noting it as a major component in why he is still with us. Coincidentally, I will be reading the biography of Beautiful Jim Key on the train to Washington, DC today as I happened to pick it up last week on a whim. In other good injury news, AP Jet is fully recovered from the injuries he sustained in an April fight with fellow NY stud Golden Token.

In other news, The Green Monkey is settled in at Saratoga; apparently he’s just your average $16 million unraced 2-year-old.

Tags:
Horse Racing, Bernardini, Barbaro