BERNARDINI HAS HIS SUPPORTERS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI HORSE RACING 

Can Bernardini go down in history as anything more than a footnote to the saga of a certain similar-named young thoroughbred?

He can, but only if he wins on Saturday in the $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course against six other horses and then probably only if he keeps winning right through the Breeders' Cup.

Bernardini is the best active 3-year-old in North America, emphasis on ``active.'' If balloting for the 2006 3-year-old championship were held now, Preakness winner Bernardini likely would come up short against Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. The challenge for Bernardini is to not only outdo Barbaro's record on the racetrack but also overcome the sentiment that will naturally affect some voters.

The Preakness will always be better known for Barbaro's breakdown in the first furlong than Bernardini's 5 1/4-length victory and impressive clocking.

``There's no doubt I think he was overlooked a bit (after the Preakness),'' said Tom Albertrani, who trains Bernardini for the stable of Dubai's Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. ``I think it would have been a great race between the two (if Barbaro had gone on).''

The New York-based Albertrani said that in July before Bernardini validated the Preakness victory with a nine-length win in the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.

Bernardini and Barbaro both boast four-race win streaks this season, Bernardini's beginning after a debut defeat at Gulfstream Park and Barbaro's ending in the Preakness. Bernardini's slightly higher speed figures leave no doubt he's a horse of comparable talent. Barbaro's more prestigious victories make him the leader in the clubhouse for the divisional honor.

Let's try to leave sympathy for Barbaro out of this decision. There's still time for Bernardini to surpass Barbaro where it counts on the accomplishment front, even if he can never prove he's more talented than Barbaro and can never be more popular.

Pivotal is Saturday's Travers, in which Bernardini (Javier Castellano riding) is an even-money favorite over Bluegrass Cat (John Velazquez), the Derby and Belmont runner-up and Haskell winner.

Bernardini fans can hope the Preakness turns out to be this year's version of the 1995 Donn Handicap. That was the race at Gulfstream in which reigning Horse of the Year Holy Bull broke down, ending his career. Overshadowed that day was 5 1/2-length winner Cigar, who went on to 16consecutive victories and two Horse of the Year titles.

Official support: The post-Pacific Classic rant by fourth-place Perfect Drift's trainer Murray Johnson drew a response from California Horse Racing Board chairman Richard Shapiro, who said in a statement that winner Lava Man tested clean and that the Del Mar track was prepared normally.

Johnson had said sarcastically on Sunday that he'd ``love to know'' Lava Man's bicarbonate test result, a reference to another Doug O'Neill-trained horse's failed test this spring. Johnson also accused Del Mar of grooming the running surface to help Lava Man.

Shapiro said Wednesday that the eight Pacific Classic runners were tested, that all came in ``well within the legal limit,'' and that Lava Man's level actually was the lowest.

``Doug O'Neill has done a marvelous job training this horse, and no one should take anything away from these achievements,'' Shapiro said in an unusually broad statement by a member of horse racing's state regulatory body.

Johnson had apologized Monday for his comments.

Summer to forget: Has thoroughbred racing ever had a few months as sad as these?

Barbaro's fight for his life is only the beginning.

Del Mar and Arlington (in Chicago) have seen their horse mortality rates skyrocket. Lost in the Fog, the 2005 champion sprinter, was diagnosed with cancer last week and is expected to be euthanized within days at Golden Gate Fields. And Saint Liam, the 2005 Horse of the Year, had to be euthanized Tuesday after breaking his left hind leg in a fall at Lane's End Farm in Kentucky.

Saint Liam apparently lost his balance after rearing up while being walked to a paddock.

The 6-year-old was reported to have 115 mares in foal this year at a stud fee of a healthy $50,000 at Lane's End.

Corners of his mind: Next time a jockey says riding in the Breeders' Cup Classic is something you never forget, tell him to check with Corey Nakatani.

After Lava Man's victory in Sunday's Pacific Classic, a reporter asked Nakatani about his experiences in past runnings of the Breeders' Cup Classic, which will be the horse's major objective this fall (Nov. 4, Churchill Downs).

Nakatani said he didn't think he'd ever ridden in the Breeders' Cup's richest race but dreamed of doing so someday.

In fact, he has ridden in the Classic seven times, finishing second with Deputy Commander (1997), third with Dramatic Gold (1994) and Dynever (2003).

Fortunately, Nakatani's mind is sharper on the racetrack. He rode a sensational race with Lava Man, taking charge of the pace before burying the field on the far turn.

Nakatani spent five days in the hospital a week earlier with a bacterial infection. If he was still groggy, it didn't show Sunday -- at least during the race.

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- Kevin Modesti