Bernardini steps into the breach

BALTIMORE -- The Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown, had to use an understudy to fill in for the injured Barbaro, the prerace star of yesterday's race at Pimlico.

When heavy favorite Barbaro broke down in the first 100 yards, a new star had to emerge and that turned out to be 13-1 Bernardini. The lightly raced colt surged through a gap in the upper stretch and roared to a 5 1/4-length victory over second-place Sweetnorthernsaint. Hemingway's Key finished third before a record Pimlico crowd of 118,402.

When Barbaro broke down, the Preakness opened up and Bernardini, the son of Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic champion AP Indy, charged through to the most significant victory of his short career.

''I knew at the three-eighths pole this horse would win," said jockey Javier Castellano. ''I had plenty of horse and the two horses in front of me [Sweetnorthernsaint and Brother Derek] started tiring. At the quarter pole, when I asked him, he took off."

The nature of Bernardini's victory surprised even his trainer, Tom Albertrani. ''I didn't think we'd win by that big of a margin," he said.

Although Barbaro was not a factor after the first 100 yards, he was still a factor. ''We had to go around Barbaro," said Dan Hendricks, the trainer of Brother Derek, who struggled to finish fourth. ''That puts your horse on the muscle more than you want. I can't feel bad about what happened to my horse after seeing what happened to the other horse. I feel sorry for Michael [Matz, Barbaro's trainer] in that situation. I just really feel bad for the other team. You don't want to see that happen. We'll just go back to California and regroup."

And Bernardini will return to New York to focus on the Belmont Stakes. The drought of no Triple Crown winner has now extended to 29 years.

Three years ago, he was the main act. He won the 2003 Kentucky Derby and the Preakness (by 9 1/2 lengths), but like War Emblem the year before him and Smarty Jones the year after, Funny Cide came up short in his Triple Crown quest, a beaten favorite in the Belmont.

Yesterday, Funny Cide returned to the scene of his prime, running in the $100,000 William Donald Schaefer Handicap on the undercard of the Preakness.

Six-year-old Funny Cide, the first gelding to win the Derby since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929, has returned to the working class, training out of New York and running in Grade I and lower handicap races. He came into yesterday with earnings of slightly more than $3.5 million, but only one victory in the last two seasons. Barbaro's injury in the Preakness may make Funny Cide the only Kentucky Derby winner still racing.

The Schaefer, a Grade III race for 3-year-olds and up, was set up as an opportunity for Funny Cide to win in the prime-time environment of a Triple Crown event.

But Funny Cide's reputation was not enough to get him into the winner's circle at Pimlico again. The primary challenge was expected to come from trainer Todd Pletcher's Master Command, who came to the Schaefer with three victories in his last four outings and a fourth-place finish in the highly regarded Grade II Oaklawn Handicap in April.

Master Command and Andromeda's Hero both zipped past Funny Cide, leaving the Derby champion a well-beaten third.

''He ran an OK race," said jockey Richard Migliore. ''But there were a number of game runners in there. The top two ran real big."

Garrett Gomez, Master Command's jockey, said he was well aware of Funny Cide's presence.

''I kept looking to find out where Funny Cide was," said Gomez, ''and he never came outside. The plan wasn't to go for the lead early. I just wanted to get [Master Command] on his feet. He just took off like a rocket ship."

Another headliner on the undercard was Artie Schiller -- the winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Mile. In the $250,000 Grade II Dixie Stakes on turf, Better Talk Now (the 2004 Breeders' Cup Turf victor) slipped between horses to beat Dreadnaught by a head and Artie Schiller a neck farther back in third.

Better Talk Now, who finished fourth in last year's Dixie Stakes, got a boost from his entrymate, Shake the Bank, who took an early lead, forcing Artie Schiller to chase him. Better Talk Now settled into seventh place before thundering down the stretch, splitting Dreadnaught and Artie Schiller.

Better Talk Now paid $9.40, $5, and $2.60.

''The rabbit went out and did his job," said Gomez, Artie Schiller's jockey. ''I was in position where I wanted to be. We had an excellent trip. On the far turn, I asked him to pick it up. He ran hard down the lane, but couldn't hold on."

In the third major undercard race, the $200,000 Maryland Breeders' Cup Sprint Stakes, Friendly Island took the lead in the stretch and sprinted home to win by three-quarters of a length over Celtic Innis. Friendly Island paid $5.60, $4.20, and $3.