Retired trainer Bernstein misses racing, Santa Anita
One longtime horseman is particularly looking forward to the start of Santa Anita's 19-day fall meet today. Racing has been the 83-yearold David Bernstein's life, and the track they call The Great Race Place has forever been his favorite venue.
Bernstein, best known for training The Wicked North, 1994's Older Male Horse of the Year, is in forced retirement these days. When a trainer has no horses in his barn, there's no sense in showing up to work at 3 a.m. every morning.
“It's just because I ran out of horses,” Bernstein told me during a telephone interview this week. “I didn't want to (retire) ... I was outliving my owners, unfortunately. I had a lot of great clients, but one by one they (died). Little by little, my stable dwindled down and we got down to one horse. I was going to keep going but ... I enjoyed it and I really miss going out in the mornings. It's something I'd gotten used to over the years and it suddenly becomes a very odd day when I don't get up to go to work.”
At one time Bernstein, who'd been training for 50 years, had 31 horses in his barn. When he privately sold his last one, Hoop Dream, that was it. It's too difficult for older trainers to attract young clients in an effort to stay in the business. Racing's been his life, and it remains the main focus.
Asked what hobbies he enjoyed, Bernstein said: “We don't have any hobbies other than racing. Racing was our life and our hobbies. My wife (Elizabeth) loves it, too. We just have to get by
OUT OF THE GATE
LOS ALAMITOS LEADERS Final standings JOCKEYS / WINS
Juan Hernandez / 6 Diego Herrera / 6 Ramon Vazquez / 6 Tiago Pereira / 5 Three tied / 4
TRAINERS / WINS
Bob Baffert / 5 Vladimir Cerin / 3
Luis Mendez / 3 George Papaprodromou / 3 John Sadler / 3
WEEKEND STAKES SANTA ANITA
Today
• $100,000 Grade III Chillingworth Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 6 1/2 furlongs
Saturday
• $300,000 Grade I Awesome Again Stakes, 3-yearolds and up, 1 1/8 miles
• $200,000 Grade II Santa Anita Sprint Stakes, the best we can because it certainly is a major change in your lifestyle. I will say I take more naps now than I used to.”
It was horse racing that helped Bernstein cope with the worst time of his life. Bobby, his 27-year-old son who was born with a single ventricle heart and suffered from cerebral palsy, died in July 2006. One day later, Bobby's mother, Victoria, traumatized and distraught, took her own life.
“Racing kept you busy all the time, you always had something to think about,” Bernstein said. “It was one of the truly sad parts of my life. (Doctors) didn't know how long (Bobby) would live and he lived 27 years. Every day was a joy. He loved racing. One time I had a horse that I named after him called Prince Bobby B. He set a track record at Del Mar that lasted 10 years, going a mile on the grass. Everybody really liked Bobby. He was a good kid.”
One of the other dark chapters in his life, although pale in comparison 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs
• $200,000Grade II City of Hope Stakes, 3-year-olds and up, 1mile (turf)
• $200,000 Grade II Eddie D Stakes, 3-year-olds and up, 6 1/2 furlongs downhill turf course
Sunday
• $200,000 Grade II Zenyatta Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 11/16 miles
• $200,000 Grade II John Henry Stakes, 3-year-olds and up, 11/4 miles (turf)
• $100,000Grade III Tokyo City Cup Stakes, 3-yearolds and up, 1 1/2 miles
• $100,000 Unzip Me Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 6 1/2 furlongs downhill turf course
DOWN THE STRETCH
• Santa Anita's opening weekend will include nine stakes races, the biggest of which is Saturday's to the two nightmarish days in 2006, came when The Wicked North, a $10,000 yearling purchase, won the 1994 Santa Anita Handicap but was disqualified and placed fourth in a stewards' controversial decision that is still universally secondguessed today.
“I think it was a horrible DQ, no question about it,” Bernstein said. “Unfortunately, the stewards ruled against us. Then they had a hearing and they ruled against us.”
Bernstein said that one of the stewards involved in the decision, the late Pete Pedersen, told him later that if the stewards had been able to rely on film that wasn't seen until later, The Wicked North would not have been DQ'd.
“That's what he told me, exactly to my face,” said Bernstein, who held Pedersen in high regard. “He was a very genuine individual and if he told you things, you could believe it.”
Forced into a life of leisure, Bernstein might be one of the fans in attendance $300,000 Grade I Awesome Again Stakes that guarantees the winner an all-expenses paid berth in the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. Nine horses are set to contest the 11/8-mile race over the main track. Trainer Bob Baffert will send out a pair, Defunded (2-1 morning-line favorite) and Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure. Slow Down Andy, third in the Pacific Classic, is the 5-2 second choice.
• Tyler Baze, who has ridden only once since April 16, will return to Southern California and ride full time during Santa Anita's fall meet. Represented by agent Brandon O'Bryan, the 40-year-old Baze is scheduled to ride Captain Choochies for trainer George Papaprodromou in today's ninth race. Baze rode regularly during last winter and spring's Oaklawn today when Santa Anita opens the curtains on a meet that will include the 40th Breeders' Cup, a record 11th time the track will host the two-day event (Nov. 3-4.)
“Santa Anita was one of my favorite places to ever race,” he said. “Of course, I raced mostly in California, although we did go back east with Truly a Judge (who won two Grade III stakes during his career). We've had a lot of great experiences taking some of the better horses we had that were qualified, we'd take them out of state and run them in places where they could win.”
What made Santa Anita so special?
“First of all, it was close to home, we always lived nearby,” Bernstein said. “Secondly, it was one of those tracks that grabs your heart. We enjoyed it so much. We liked going to the races there all the time. It was just a great place to race. The Great Race Place.”
Park meet but has been mostly idle since. Baze's lone mount in the past five-plus months was Stan From Malibu for trainer Ryan Hanson at Del Mar on Sept. 9.
• Santa Anita will offer two new options on its wagering menu this fall. The $3 minimum All-Turf Pick 3 will encompass the day's final three races on the grass. In addition, the track is switching back to the traditional Pick Six, but this time with a minimum of $1. The Pick Six, which requires bettors to pick the final six winners on the card, will pay out 70% of the net pool whenever a ticket includes all six winners. Thirty percent of the pool is then paid out to consolation tickets with five winners. If no one hits six winners, 70% of the net pool is carried over to the next racing day.
— Art Wilson