Bernardini in 2011
Preakness winner & Breeder’s Cup runner-up Bernardini got Gr1 winners in Europe & USA from his first crop in 2010. Now Horse of the Year Zenyatta has been booked to him for 2011. Other stallion holders would give their right arm for such a PR coup. What’s the bet her owners won’t have to cough up the $75k service fee?
Here’s the press release from Lane’s End:
Owners Jerry and Ann Moss announced today that Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year, will be sent to Bernardini to be bred in 2011.
A son of Lane’s End’s two-time leading sire A.P. Indy, Bernardini was champion three-year-old colt in 2006. In 2010, with his first crop to race, Bernardini was the leading freshman sire by number of graded stakes winners and by number of stakes winners. He is out of Grade 1 winner Cara Rafaela by Quiet American and stands at Darley.
Zenyatta is boarded at Mr. and Mrs. William S. Farish’s Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Kentucky
The Thoroughbred Times embellished the news item with this:
Bernardini is the sire of a two-year-old half sister to Zenyatta named Eblouissante, bred and owned by Zenyatta’s breeder, Eric Kronfeld’s Maverick Productions. After Zenyatta was crowned Horse of the Year on January 17, Kronfeld said he was “in love” with Eblouissante, which is French for “dazzling.” He plans to send the filly to John Shirreffs, the trainer of Zenyatta.
Lane’s End stands Bernardini’s sire, A.P. Indy, who was matched with Zenyatta’s half sister, multiple Grade 1 winner Balance, for her first mating. Bred by Amerman Racing Stable, the resulting foal topped the 2010 Keeneland September yearling sale at $4.2-million, the highest price for a yearling in the U.S. since 2006. Ben Leon Jr. bought the colt and named him Mr. Besilu.
Then on 24 February the deed was done:
The much-anticipated live cover of Horse of the Year Zenyatta by champion Bernardini occurred Wednesday morning 23 February at Darley in Lexington, where Jerry and Ann Moss’ Street Cry (Ire) mare visited the A.P. Indy stallion for her first breeding session.
The Mosses board Zenyatta at the Farish family’s Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and the seven-year-old mare made the about 12-mile van ride to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Darley in Lexington on Wednesday morning.
Zenyatta retired following a second-place finish in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), her lone defeat in 20 career starts. Zenyatta was champion older female in 2008, 2009, and 2010, while Bernardini was champion three-year-old male of 2006 and one of the leading North American freshman sires of 2010.
The Bernardini-Zenyatta breeding was the second of two of the season’s more highly anticipated breedings this week, as Horses of the Year Rachel Alexandra and Curlin were bred on Monday at Lane’s End. Curlin stands at Lane’s End. (Thoroughbred Times).
