Bernardini

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...

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini), winner of last year's GII Toyota Blue Grass S., is expected to make his 4-year-old debut in the June 25 Kelly's Landing S. at Churchill Downs. The bay colt was fourth in last year's GI Preakness S. and has been off since finishing eighth in the Nov. 7 GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. Art Collector has been back on the work tab at Churchill Downs for the last four weeks, most recently working a half-mile in :50.60 (9/9) on the turf Sunday at Churchill Downs...

3rd-Belmont, $78,300, Msw, 6-10, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:06.47, ft, 9 3/4 lengths. VELVET SISTER (f, 2, Bernardini--Backslash, by Sharp Humor), bought for $500,000 after breezing a :10 1/5 furlong at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream, debuted a sharp maiden winner Thursday at Belmont for Stonestreet Stables and Steve Asmussen. Showing a quartet of half-mile works at Keeneland, highlighted by a :47 2/5 (5/99) spin from the gate May 8, and a pair of maintenance spins over the local training track, the New York-bred was made a distant 12-5 second choice in a three-horse...

3rd-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, post time: 4:09 p.m. ET VELVET SISTER (Bernardini) brought $500,000 from Stonestreet Stables after breezing an eighth in a powerful :10 1/5 at Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the bay is a half-sister to the tough-as-nails 7-year-old gelding MSW My Boy Tate (Boys At Tosconova). Stonestreet has enjoyed top- level success with Bernardini's Cavorting and Rachel's Valentina. Gerrymander (Into Mischief), a half-sister to last Saturday's runaway GII Brooklyn S. winner Lone Rock (Majestic Warrior), is the 2-1 morning-line favorite. The Klaravich Stables...

Robbing Robin became the first winner her freshman sire Greenpointcrusader (Bernardini) with a debut score at Gulfstream Friday. Dispatched at 4-1, the bay pressed from second, keeping heavily favored Lara's Lady (Uncaptured) honest through a :22.36 opening quarter. The chalk tried to go on with it in the lane, but Robbing Robin reeled her in late to graduate by a half-length. Blue-blooded, GI Champagne S. winner Greenpointcrusader stands at Ocala Stud for a fee of $3,500. My Ladies Choice is also responsible for a yearling filly by Cajun Breeze and...

Now that's a key race. Subsequent runaway Smarty Jones S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Caddo River (Hard Spun) and authoritative GIII Holy Bull S. hero Greatest Honour (Tapit) were both defeated in second and third, respectively, in a salty, seven-furlong maiden special weight at Belmont Park last fall Oct. 11 (video). But what happened to the impressive winner that day, the highly regarded Godolphin homebred Speaker's Corner (Street Sense--Tyburn Brook, by Bernardini)? "After a minor setback, he is back jogging and hacking at Payson Park with Bill Mott," Godolphin...

So here we are at last, rounding the home turn. This series has unfolded in familiar fashion, with an initial stampede of unproven young stallions progressively thinned out by the impatience of a commercial sector operating in ever decreasing cycles. Today we finish with a selection from those admirable stallions who have survived the ruthless attrition, and created a viable niche at various levels of the market. The odds they have overcome, to get here, are such that the long-term health of the breed is clearly being treated as something...

2nd-Santa Anita, $59,780, Msw, 2-5, 3yo, f, 1m, 1:39.09, ft, 18 lengths. LADY MYSTIFY (f, 3, Bernardini--J. Quirk, by Unbridled's Song) took to two turns to say the least Saturday in Arcadia. A close second at 15-1 going 5 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos Dec. 5, the bay was third over an additional sixteenth here Jan. 10. Backed at 3-2 getting more ground to work with, the bay beat her three foes to the lead and zipped along through splits of :22.85 and :46.43. She blew the race apart around...

The 2020 campaign of Robert and Lawana Low's Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) picked up steam as it rolled along and the athletic gray colt picked up where he left off Saturday, as he found his way out of a jackpot and into the clear with time ticking away in Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf and outfinished stablemate Largent (Into Mischief) to win the $1-million event. Cross Border (English Channel) rounded out the trifecta, while the outposted Social Paranoia (Street Boss) completed a 1-2-4 finish for trainer Todd Pletcher. Off...

4th-Gulfstream Park, $50K, Msw, 2yo, f, 7f, post time: 2:03 p.m. ET VINTAGE STYLE (Bernardini), produced by a half-sister to champion sprinter and top sire Speightstown (Gone West), gets her career started for owners R. A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables and trainer George Weaver. The full-sister to G1 Emirates Airline Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 winner Capezzano, drawn widest of all in post six and listed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite, was a $150,000 KEESEP yearling. TJCIS PPs

5th-Laurel, $46,000, Msw, 10-29, 2yo, f, 1m (off turf), 1:41.41, sy, 5 1/2 lengths. GHERARDINI (f, 2, Bernardini--Brush Hour, by Broad Brush) was sent off the 3-2 choice in this maiden rained off the grass and onto a Zeta-affected main track at Laurel and sustained a rally for the better part of 3 1/2 furlongs to graduate by an impressive 5 1/2 lengths. Away clearly last beneath Sheldon Russell, the $150,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase was ridden quietly from about third last before being asked to improve a long way...