Bertrando

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename = Bertrando


caption =
sire = Skywalker
dam = Gentle Hands
damsire = Buffalo Lark
sex = Stallion
foaled = 1989
country = United States flagicon|USA
colour = Dark Bay
breeder = Ed Nahem
owner = Ed Nahem & 505 Farms
trainer = Bruce Headley
Robert J. Frankel (from late 1992)
John Shirreffs (1994)
record = 24: 9-6-2
earnings = $3,185,610
race = Del Mar Futurity (1991)
Norfolk Stakes (1991)
San Felipe Stakes (1992)
San Fernando Stakes (1993)
Woodward Stakes (1993)
Pacific Classic Stakes (1993)
Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (1994)
awards = U.S. Champion Older Male Horse (1993)
honours =
updated= December 9, 2006

Bertrando (born 1989) is an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. A tall colt, who would grow to 16 hands 2 inches, Bertrando was bred by Ed Nahem, at River Edge Farm in Buellton, California. He was sired by Skywalker who won the 1986 Breeders' Cup Classic.

Ed Nahem began racing Bertrando in a three-way partnership with Marshall Naify's 505 Farms of Lexington, Kentucky and Gus Headley, son of the horse's trainer, Bruce Headley. En route to being voted California Champion 2-year-old colt, Bertrando won the important Del Mar Futurity, and the Grade I Norfolk Stakes, one of the final prep races for two-year-olds going into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. In that race, the most important of the year, Bertrando broke quickly from the starting gate, and took an early lead. But, from the back of the fourteen-horse field, the French colt Arazi began making a move. In what a 2006 National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) article called "the single-most spectacular performance in Breeders' Cup history," Arazi suddenly turned it on, weaving his way between horses and with a full two furlongs still to run, swept past Bertrando to win. [http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=other&id=19892]

Racing in California in 1992, the three-year-old Bertrando won the San Felipe Stakes, and was second to A.P. Indy in the Santa Anita Derby. As a result of a respiratory system virus, the colt did not compete in any of the U.S. Triple Crown races. Sidelined for several months, Gus Headley was bought out of the partnership, and Robert J. Frankel took over as Bertrando's trainer. Near the end of the year, Bertrando returned to compete in the Malibu Stakes, finishing third. Although his 1992 performances were limited, he still earned California Champion 3-year-old colt honors.

At age four, 1993 was Bertrando's best year in racing. He won the San Fernando Stakes, the Woodward Stakes by 13½ lengths, and, while winning the Pacific Classic Stakes, he broke the track record for 1¼ miles at the Del Mar Racetrack. Bertrando also had strong second place performances in the Hollywood Gold Cup, Metropolitan Handicap, and in the Breeders' Cup Classic. In the Classic, he appeared to have the race won, when longshot Arcangues came from behind to claim victory. His 1994 performances earned him that year's U.S. Eclipse Award for Outstanding Older Male Horse, and the California Horse of the Year title.

Following arthroscopic surgery on a knee, Bertrando returned to race again at age 5. He won the 1994 Wickerr Stakes, and Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap. In his third attempt to win a Breeders' Cup race, he entered the 1994 Classic, where he finished sixth. After two unplaced showings in 1995, Bertrando was retired to River Edge Farm in Buellton, California, where he has been a successful sire of a number of stakes race winners.

References

* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/bertrando Bertrando's pedigree and racing stats]
* [http://www.ctba.com/00magazine/feb00/news4.htm California Thoroughbred Breeders Association 2000 article on Bertrando]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfRN-_oeVdY The 1991 Breeders' Cup Juvenile] on YouTube