Bernardini’s the only show in town

IT’S been billed as the “Mane Event”, a Breeders’ Cup Classic showdown between two of American racing’s superstars, but at Churchill Downs yesterday there was only one show in town.

When Bernardini first poked his noble snout out of Barn 17 on the backstretch at the Kentucky racecourse, there was a large welcoming committee of photographers, television camera crews and journalists to greet him.

Victory in the Preakness Stakes, the middle leg of the famed Triple Crown of American racing, and five other Group races has catapulted Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Stable colt into a household name in the States.