Bernardini is a thoroughbred race horse foaled on March 23, 2003 at Darley Stable in Kentucky. A son of A.P. Indy, he is out of Cara Rafaela who won almost a million dollars over the course of her racing career. Her sire was Quiet American, who also produced Real Quiet, a horse that came within a nose of winning the 1998 Triple Crown.

Racing career

The late-blooming Bernardini did not make his first start until age 3, but quickly went on to take many of the major 3year-old races en route to being named Champion 3-Year-Old Male in 2006.

Bernardini was ridden by jockey Javier Castellano, and trained by Thomas Albertrani. Owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, Bernadini is regally bred, with Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic winner and 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy as his sire, and a family that includes Seattle Slew, Spectacular Bid, and Secretariat. By blood, he is related to Triple Crown contenders Real Quiet and Charismatic.

Bernardini's racing career began at age three at Gulfstream Park where he finished 4th in a maiden race. After a lung infection kept him from racing for 2 months, he came back with a 7 3/4 length win in a Maiden Special Weight over one mile at Gulfstream. On April 29, he easily won the Grade III Withers Stakes prior to going to the Preakness.

Bernardini won the 2006 Preakness Stakes by 5 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:54.65, in the same race where Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro suffered the hind leg fracture that would ultimately lead to the Derby winner's death.

After his Preakness win, Sheik Mohammed decided that Bernardini would not race in the June 10 Belmont Stakes, which meant that for only the 4th time in 60 years, there were neither the Kentucky Derby winner nor the Preakness winner in the field. A spokesman for Sheik Mohammed's Darley Stable reasoned that "...(Bernardini) climbed the ladder of competition quite quickly" and that "he deserves the break."

Bernardini returned to the races on July 30 at Saratoga Race Course with a 10-length victory in the Jim Dandy Stakes over Minister's Bid. On August 26, 2006, he won the Travers Stakes, also in Saratoga, by 7 lengths over Haskell Invitational winner and Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes runner-up, Bluegrass Cat. In the October 7 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Bernardini earned a 117 Beyer figure in a winning effort.

The ultimate goal for Bernardini in 2006 was the Breeders' Cup Classic on November 4, the most prestigious horse race in the country and a race that would most likely determine 2006 Horse of the Year honors.

In the 2006 Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, Bernardini tracked near the lead, and passed the frontrunner Brother Derek at the quarter pole. He fought gamely to hold off Invasor at the sixteenth pole, but fell short a length, finishing second.

He was presented with the Eclipse Award for 3 Year Old Male of the Year for 2006. He was retired to stud at Darley, and has become one of the market's hottest sires. In his first crop he sired Travers Stakes winner and Belmont Stakes runner-up Stay Thirsty, Group I stakes winner Biondetti, Grade I winners A Z Warrior and To Honor and Serve, and graded stakes winner Theysken's Theory. His second crop may prove as strong or stronger than the first, with the ultra-talented graded stakes--winning colts Alpha and Algorithms looking to be tough on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Bernardini's success as a sire has attracted many top broodmares and racemares. On January 26th, 2011, Jerry Moss and his wife Ann announced that Bernardini would be the first mate of the 2010 Horse of the Year when Zenyatta was booked to him later that season. She foaled in March 2012. Zenyatta's dam and 2008 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Vertigineux produced a promising Bernardini filly named Eblouissante in 2009.

Visiting Bernardini in 2012 will be 2009 Horse of the Year and American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Rachel Alexandra and 2010 American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly Blind Luck.

Racing career

Pedigree

References

• Bernadini's pedigree, with photo
• Bernardini Statistics and Media, NTRA
• Bernardini's retirement