Bernieandtherose continues her strong run of form (NYRA/Coglianese)
By Christian Abdo/NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Robert D. Rosenthal and Bradford Bernstein’s homebred Bernieandtherose doubled up on stakes scores while winning her fourth consecutive state-bred race in Saturday’s $125,000 Maddie May, a one-turn mile for New York-bred sophomore fillies, at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Trained by Domenick Schettino, the Accelerate chestnut entered from a victory in the local seven-furlong East View on February 8. Bernieandtherose, out of the stakes-winning Freud mare Berning Rose, continued a strong run of form for herself and her connections, who saddled her older half-sister Bernietakescharge to win the open-company Heavenly Prize Invitational on February 22 here.
“I’ve been in the breeding and racing business for more than 30 years, and I have to say this is just an incredible thrill. She’s now won four in-a-row and we’ve won seven of the last eight races between the two [half-sisters], three stakes,” said Bob Rosenthal, winning co-owner and co-breeder. “It’s a tribute to Domenick and the patience he has with young horses and the way he develops them.”
Piloted by Katie Davis, who has been aboard for all five career starts, Bernieandtherose brushed the gate from post 4 and Davis briefly lost an iron, but recovered nicely to stalk 47-1 Howling Wind from second position through the opening quarter-mile in 23.86 seconds on the fast dirt.
Bernieandtherose remained on Howling Wind’s hip down the backstretch with Army Gal in third position while even-money favorite Lottie Margaret sat outside her and Storm Changer, a half-length second to Bernieandtherose last out in the East View, saved ground as the half-mile elapsed in 48.32.
Bernieandtherose put her head in front of Howling Wind in the turn as the Manny Franco-piloted Lottie Margaret came under a drive through three-quarters in 1:14.50 and the other rivals spun their wheels. Howling Wind, with Ruben Silvera aboard, looked Bernieandtherose in the eye and refused to give up without a battle.
The pair dueled at the top of the lane with Bernieandtherose securing a half-length advantage over the stubborn pacesetter approaching the eighth-pole, before charging home to a 3 1/4-length victory in a final time of 1:41.35.
Lottie Margaret made a late run to put a neck in front of Howling Wind for second, with 9 1/2 lengths back to Army Gal, who won a state-bred optional-claimer on Sunday here, rounding out the superfecta. Storm Changer, Boston’s Phinest and Lady Wisdom completed the order of finish.
Rosenthal tipped his cap to Schettino and Davis for their dedication to Bernieandtherose.
“I can’t give enough credit to Domenick and to Katie, who gets on the horse every day. They know the horse and are developing her and she just keeps getting better and better. We’re ecstatic,” said Rosenthal. “We are just blessed to have horses like this giving us so much pleasure and this is really special. It’s my granddaughter Madison – Maddie’s – birthday, and this is the Maddie May Stakes, so this is great.”
The versatile Bernieandtherose pounced to victory last out in the East View after a difficult trip.
“In her last race, she was locking onto the bridle really hard and lugging in… I told Dom to check her teeth, and they couldn’t get the dentist in until last week. They pulled four caps,” said Davis. “I was galloping her the last two weeks – the last day I galloped her, I said, ‘that was incredible.’ And Dom said, ‘I’ve never heard you say that for a horse.’ To see her change with just fixing her teeth is huge.”
Davis said that she has observed positive development since the filly’s October debut here when third sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs versus fellow state-breds.
“We got along really well and working with her from Day One has been great. Being able to gallop her has gone a long way,” said Davis. “She’s maturing after every race. I even lost my left iron out of the gate, and I kicked it right back in and it didn’t faze her. She’s overcome a lot these past few races.”
Davis, who won the Correction aboard Sunday Girl for trainer David Duggan on Sunday here, was thrilled to earn another stakes win on International Women’s Day.
“It means a lot to me. In any industry, sometimes it can be 10 times harder for us to get to where we want to go. We have our rights but we’re fighting for where we want to be in life,” said Davis. “It’s a blessing to know I can do it here with the top guys and that everybody in the room respects me.”
Rosenthal added that a potential race to consider for Bernieandtherose is the nine-furlong Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle on April 5 here, a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.
“My wife would say, ‘let’s get some points towards the Kentucky Oaks.’ I know there’s a stake coming up with some points, so let’s see how she comes out of the race,” Rosenthal said. “We’re not going to do anything that isn’t in the best interest of this filly.”
Bernieandtherose banked $68,750 in victory and returned $7.90 for a $2 win bet, while improving her record to 5-4-0-1.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with a nine-race program. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
