Alpha, a three-year-old son of Bernardini, went off as the heavy favorite in Aqueduct's G3 Withers Stakes and lived up to his hype with an absolutely dominant victory in the one and one-sixteenth mile race.
On January 7, Alpha won his first black-type event in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct, which was only a stepping stone for what came February 4 over the same track. In the G3 Withers, Alpha positioned himself on the outside in fourth about two lengths off the pace. He began to move up coming around the turn and hit the lead at the top of the stretch then cruised with ease to victory.
The son of Bernardini was bred by Darley and is out of Munnaya, a Stakes-winning daughter of Nijinsky II. The colt is a half-brother to Stakes winner and Graded-Placed Mystic Melody, Graded Stakes-placed Lavender Sky, as well as two other black-type runners. Munnaya is a half-sister to Stakes winners/Graded-placed Sheer Reason and Mall Queen and she has a yearling full-brother to Alpha currently.
The exciting Bernardini has witnessed spectacular results in the past week. On January 29 his son Algorithms stayed unbeaten in the G3 Holy Bull Stakes. Just one day ago his daughter Gamilati was much the best in the UAE 1000 Guineas. Bernardini is represented by nine Graded/Group winners to date and eight G1 horses from his first two crops.
Bernardini stands for $150,000 in 2012 at Darley USA.
