SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2021 BERNARDINI DEAD AT 18 NAVARRO TO CHANGE 'NOT GUILTY' PLEA IN INTERNATIONAL DOPING SCANDAL By T.D. Thornton Barred trainer Jorge Navarro, the most notorious and prominent defendant in the international racehorse doping scandal that rocked the racing industry when the feds arrested 28 alleged conspirators in March 2020, has just been granted an Aug. 11 change-of-plea hearing at which he is expected to alter his initial "not guilty" plea from last year. This bombshell change in the case could mean a new pleading of "guilty" is in the pipeline for Navarro, perhaps as part of a sentencing bargain that has played out behind the scenes between federal prosecutors and defense attorneys. Within the past week, two other alleged co-conspirators-a veterinarian and a drug distributor-have either already changed their pleas to guilty or are expected to do so at an upcoming Bernardini | Darley photo hearing. Cont. p11 Classic winner and leading sire Bernardini (A.P. Indy-Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American) was euthanized July 30 at Darley's IN TDN EUROPE TODAY Jonabell Farm in Central Kentucky due to complications from SUESA STORMS TO KING GEORGE GLORY laminitis. The 18-year-old stallion, a homebred for Sheikh Suesa (Ire) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) sprung a mild surprise Mohammed's operation, has stood at Jonabell since he was when saluting in the G2 King George Qatar S. during the Qatar retired for the 2007 breeding season. Goodwood Festival on Friday. Click or tap here to go straight ABernardini was one of a kind,@ said Michael Banahan, director to TDN Europe. of farm operations for Godolphin USA. AFrom the day he was born, he exuded class. He was that crop=s best foal, best yearling, and best racehorse. His brilliance was only surpassed by his wonderful character. He will be sorely missed by all on the farm, but especially by his handler for the past 15 years, Philip Hampton. It was an honor to be a custodian of this Classic- winning stallion whose legacy will live long as a broodmare sire.@ Sheikh Mohammed purchased Bernardini's dam, 1995 GI Hollywood Starlet S. winner and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Cara Rafaela, privately in 2002 with Bernardini in utero. The mare was eventually named 2006 Broodmare of the Year primarily due to Bernardini's exploits. The son of A.P. Indy burst onto the racing scene as a 3-year-old for Darley, following an off-the-board debut with six straight victories, including daylight wins in the GI Preakness S., GI Travers S., GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, GII Jim Dandy S., and GIII Withers S. He was retired after finishing second to eventual Horse of the Year Invasor (Arg) (Candy Stripes) in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Senior Contributing Editor Saturday, July 31, 2021 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Project Manager Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb Kristen Lomasson Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Firenze friends. Firenze the kitten hangs around with Firenze Fire at Kelly Breen's barn [email protected] in Saratoga. The equine Firenze Fire faces eight in Saturday's GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. Social Media Strategist while the connections for feline Firenze consider a meowlowance race. | Susie Raisher Justina Severni Associate Producer ESSENTIAL QUALITY LOOMS LARGE IN JIM DANDY 7 Katie Ritz Champion Essential Quality (Tapit) faces a field of overmatched Director of Customer Service rivals Saturday in Saratoga's GII Jim Dandy S., the local prep for Vicki Forbes the GI Runhappy Travers S. [email protected] Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen TODAY’S GRADED STAKES ET Race Click for TV Chief Financial Officer 10:05a Lillie Langtry S.-G2, GOO -------------- TVG Ray Villa 4:33p Monmouth Oaks-GIII, MTH TJCIS PPs TVG [email protected] [email protected] 5:03p Alfred G. Vanderbilt H.-GI, SAR TJCIS PPs FS2 5:39p Jim Dandy S.-GII, SAR TJCIS PPs FS2 WORLDWIDE INFORMATION 6:13p Bowling Green S.-GII-SAR TJCIS PPs FS2 International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN 9:36p Bing Crosby S.-GI, DMR TJCIS PPs TVG [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 18 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • JULY 31, 2021 Bernardini cont. from p1 The Tom Albertrani trainee, who marked the first American Classic winner for Sheikh Mohammed, was honored as the 2006 Eclipse Champion 3-Year-Old Colt. ABernardini was such a majestic animal,@ said Albertrani. AHe was very talented, one of the best horses I=ve ever been around. I just feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to train him. He was a star.@ With his racing career complete, Bernardini entered stud at Jonabell and quickly delivered with four Grade/Group I winners in his first crop. With 12 crops of racing age to date, Bernardini has sired 48 graded winners and a total of 80 black-type winners, with progeny earnings barely shy of $100 million. His Grade/Group I winners globally number 15. Among his top runners in the U.S. are triple Grade I winner Cavorting, Travers and GI Cigar Mile winner Stay Thirsty, Travers and GI Woodward S. winner Alpha, and Woodward and Cigar Mile winner To Honor and Serve. Bernardini also shuttled to Australia for eight seasons, where his top runners from that foray include New Zealand 2-year-old champion and G1SW Ruud Awakening (Aus). Bernardini ranked 20th on the Lifetime Active Sires List at the time of his death. Cavorting | Sarah Andrew For all of Bernardini's accomplishments as a sire, it is as a broodmare sire that he may make the biggest and most lasting impact. For the 2021 season, he currently has the highest percentage of graded stakes winners to starters of all broodmare sires with active runners. In May, he became the youngest stallion in history to hit the mark of 50 black-type winners as a damsire. Among the 54 stakes winners out of his daughters are 32 graded winners and 11 Grade I winners, including Maxfield (Street Sense), Catholic Boy (More Than Ready), Serengeti Empress (Alternation), Dunbar Road (Quality Road) and Colonel Liam (Liam's Map). Cont. p4 TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 18 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • JULY 31, 2021 Bernardini cont. Maxfield | Sarah Andrew ABernardini was Sheikh Mohammed=s first winner of a Triple Crown race--and a homebred one, too--and then a leading sire,@ said Godolphin USA president Jimmy Bell. AWe have been blessed to have him. A beautiful horse, and a lovely character, we are lucky to have so many of his daughters on the farm to continue his legacy.@ OLD STAGERS KEEP US TO THE SCRIPT by Chris McGrath Though divided by a continent, the Grade I sprints on either coast Saturday have an evocative bond that opens a far less navigable gulf between the golden era they preserve, and our own drab times. For each honors an icon of American glamor in the last century--and if a day at Saratoga or Del Mar retains a certain magic, in 2021, then that's partly because we can almost still sense the smiling, shimmering presence of Alfred G. Vanderbilt and Bing Crosby, respectively. The prestige and panache contributed by these gentlemen to the heyday of the Turf lingers even against popular inattention or distaste today. Obviously they rode very different trails to the social summit: one the scion of capitalist royalty, the other a son of a Spokane bookkeeper. Cont. p5 IN SUPPORT OF GRADED STAKES ON THE POINTS BASED BONUS E.P. TAYLOR TURF COURSE SERIES REWARDS DANCE SMARTLY STAKES GR II ST 1 $50,000 nd AUGUST 22$175,000 | ONE MILE & ONE QUARTER ND CANADIAN STAKES GR II 2 $15,000 TH SEPTEMBER$ 218 50,000 | ONE MILE & ONE EIGHTH RD 3 $10,000 E.P. TAYLOR STAKES GR I for information, please contact: TH OCTOBER$600,000 17 | ONE MILE & ONE QUARTER Julia Bell, Stakes Manager [email protected] 416.675.3993 ext. 1 +2440 TM Trademark of Woodbine Entertainment Group TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 5 OF 18 • THETDN.COM SATURDAY • JULY 31, 2021 This Side Up cont. out. A section of the clubhouse was roped off for those rooting But both shared a conviction that the heartbeat of the sport-- for his horse, while Clark Gable and Spencer Tracey were among in an era when it truly enjoyed mass appeal--was measured not the hundreds brandishing pennants in the Binglin colors. In a so much in its bluebloods as among its blue-collar fans. finish of notorious rough riding, Seabiscuit won by a nose. Crosby, as founding father, famously manned the turnstiles for Del Mar had put itself on the map. But that, of course, was only Del Mar's opening day in 1937. And Vanderbilt, who took over the prelude to Seabiscuit's showdown with War Admiral at Pimlico the following year, would sometimes plunge into the Pimlico that November.