Before we get any more e-mails, phone calls or snail mails on the subject, we thought we’d just come right out and say what we do and don’t like about Bernardini as the choice for Zenyatta’s first mate.

Keep in mind that although there has been no announcement and he is advertised in The Blood Horse stallion book, there have been rumors about A.P. Indy’s fertility in the last few months.

What we were afraid of – and what ultimately came to pass – is that a son of A.P. Indy with a Mr. Prospector cross would be used instead of the sire himself for just this reason. Given that she was boarded at Lane’s End, we thought this might be Mineshaft. Steven Got Even, devoid of the line, would have been a better choice to our way of thinking, but Bernardini it is.

What we don’t like about the match: We think she deserves a horse that is better proven and is from a better tail-female line. We will never like doubling Mr. Prospector. We wish Bernardini had run more than one year.

What we do like: If you have to double Mr. Prospector, do it via two relatively sound lines. Street Cry (who has a stout bottom line) and Quiet American (inbred to and tail-female to *Marguerite de Valois) are two of those lines.

Balance: Sex-balanced inbreeding in this pedigree is everywhere: *Princequillo: Male Round Table to females Somethingroyal and Sharp Queen; Tom Fool: Male Buckpasser to female Mrs. Peterkin; Hail to Reason: Males Halo and Roberto to female Reason To Earn; Natalma: Male Northern Dancer to female Raise The Standard; and Never Bend: Male Riverman to female Fairway Fable.

Bernardini is inbred to *Marguerite de Valois; Nearctic; Bold Ruler and Somethingroyal – lines of which Zenyatta is devoid. Zenyatta is inbred to Hoist the Flag, of which Bernardini is devoid.

Finding soundness: Tough lines here include Spectacular Bid and the Fairway Fable family in general from whence Bernardini descends; there are three Nashua lines two via Mr. Prospector’s dam Gold Digger and one via Roberto’s dam Bramalea. Nobody was tougher.

The overall mating has oodles of Frizette: three Myrtlewood lines x 1 of Black Curl in Slew’s contribution. Mr. Prospector/Slew also gives you x3 Humanity and x3 Lady Comfey. The overall match creates x3 Almahmoud (Natalma x2/Cosmah).

Very far back but intriguing: Troy, broodmare sire of Street Cry, and *Princequillo who is linebred to, both descend from family 1-B (Morel). Spectacular Bid, sire of Bernardini’s second dam, Oil Fable, is linebred to Family 10-A, which is the same tail-female line as Kris S., broodmare sire of Zenyatta.

Finally and perhaps most importantly: Team Zenyatta has not taken a wrong step with this mare. Though we prefer not to see inbreeding to Mr. Prospector, we feel they deserve the benefit of the doubt here because not only have they proved to be right far more than they are ever wrong, even the most fragile horse would do well with John Shirreffs training him or her. This man is more than a horseman; he’s a horse whisperer, too. Whatever else one may be sure of it is that Zenyatta’s foals will be delivered into some of the best hands God ever made for any horse.

Zenyatta was not just a special racehorse; she was the best main track filly or mare we’ve ever seen. Innately feminine in every way, and from a grand family, we have little doubt that she will enrich the stud book however she is bred.

Posted 1-28-2011