Bernardini’s the only 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.
And like all true stars of stage and screen, Bernardini made the perfect entrance into the hullabaloo of Breeders’ Cup week when he was flown in from his Belmont Park home in New York on Wednesday night.
Stepping onto the Churchill Downs track for the first time at 7.10am yesterday, trainer Tom Albertrani put his stable star through what he described as a slow gallop over tomorrow’s Classic distance of a mile and a quarter.
From there he was taken to the gate, located at the start position for tomorrow night’s $5m race for a short schooling and after a total of 30 minutes, Bernardini was back at his barn.
“He’s doing super,” Albertrani said. “I couldn’t be happier with him at the moment.
He looks fantastic, he looks great. He’s got a good, healthy coat on him and has been training well. We’re pleased with the way he’s coming into this race.”
While Bernardini was being prepared to leave New York for Kentucky, Breeders’ Cup officials were making the draw for all of tomorrow’s races, placing the Preakness winner at post three, just inside Aidan O’Brien’s George Washington. Albertrani was not unduly perturbed.
“I would have preferred to have been a little farther on the outside,” said Albertrani, who spent some time in Dubai and England as an assistant to Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor.
“I could see where he’s maybe two or three lengths off the leaders and (jockey) Javier (Castellano) will just put him in a position where he is happy and comfortable.”
The trainer, though, believes, much greater obstacles lie in Bernardini’s rivals.
“This is without doubt the most difficult task he has ever faced,” Albertrani said. “I thought the Travers Stakes was probably his hardest race to date, against Bluegrass Cat, but the Jockey Club Gold Cup wasn’t really too testing, coming across only two older horses.
“This is going to be probably the toughest field he’s come up against, with Lava Man, Invasor and the rest of them.
“But I feel very confident the horse is doing well and I’m pretty confident going into the race.
“I think he’s going to be very difficult to beat.”
