Superstar Bernardini Scores In Saratoga

Bernardini strengthened his position at the head of the Breeders' Cup Classic market with another outstanding performance at Saratoga.

The Tom Albertrani-trained three-year-old, a facile winner of the Preakness Stakes on his penultimate start, showed true class to register a seven-and-a-half-length success in the Grade One Travers Stakes.

Sent off an odds-on chance, the mount of Javier Castellano soon gained ascendancy in the 10-furlong contest without ever getting serious aboard the son of A.P. Indy.

The outcome was never in doubt from then on as the Darley Stable-owned colt bounded clear from runner-up Bluegrass Cat ? a seven-length winner of a Grade One last time out ? to secure the largest margin of victory in the Travers since 1979.

Bernardini, who has now won five races on the bounce, is likely to head for the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park before being primed for the Breeders' Cup Classic on October 28.

'He's pretty sharp,' Castellano told ESPN. 'Right now, I don't think any horse can beat this horse.'

Albertrani added: 'I was just praying that he would show up as the phenomenal horse I know him to be.

'And he did. He's just getting sharper every race. It's pretty scary.

'To have a horse of this calibre, I think it's great for racing.

'It's great to have people cheering for a horse ? that's what it's all about.'

(C) PA Sport