Bernardo Handicap (Grade 3)- $100.000 Purse
DMR- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
August 21, 2020

In the Bernardo Handicap, it seemed as though You Just Have 2 Wait would be one of the ones to beat. After all, she had made trainer Estero Farms wait long enough since her last win, which came in August of last year in the Grade 1 test. She was made the post-time favorite, and was our pick to win primarily due to her overall consistent nature. Finally, after a lot of give and take with close calls this year, Estero Farms has found winners circle love with her. The win is his in the stake, though jockey V Espinoza has been there before. It is his fourth win, and second consecutive. Congratulations to them! The race was run in a time of 1:15.42, the third quickest in its history. Let’s take a look!

(¼ Mile- :22.67)- The race begins with the two horses on the outside being the quickest out of the starting gate. All Turned Up, out of Jediminds Stable, looked very good in the early going, and was able to move over to the rail. Best Of Seven, from Chili King Stables, took a little longer to make her move to the inside, but eventually got there midway through the back stretch. At a quarter mile, in Best Of Seven led All Turned Up by half a length, and it would be a gap of two to the next three, who were running side by side by side. On the inside here was Arindel’s Good Liver, while John Henry’s City Of Soul was in the middle, and Maria Alexandra, the big longshot from Hawaiian Shirt Guy, was on the outside. Behind them would be our eventual winner, You Just Have To Wait, who was four lengths from the front for Estero Farms. No worries. Based on how she typically runs, she seems to have everyone right where she wants them. Steady Sneaks (John Henry) was to her inside, and then it was several lengths back to the trailer, Murky Waters (Two Hearts One Love), who chose to practice social distancing from everyone else.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Moving around the turn, All Turned Up took command of the race as Best Of Seven was no longer to run with her. This allowed All Turned Up to open up an advantage of three lengths over the next horse that was moving forward. Perhaps then, All Turned Up had gotten away from them, but that horse that was looking to make her move was You Just Have To Wait. The Estero Farms filly had worked traffic quite well, and in the turn looked to make a four wide move of those that were directly in front of her previously. It is a very good thing she did not wait any longer to make this move, because City Of Soul, at least at this point of the race, seemed to be backing up a little bit, and she made have run right into her. Now she was third, with her pass of Best Of Seven imminent. Good Liver held her line for the moment on the rail, and as mentioned it looked like City Of Soul was backing up in the turn, but maybe she just is not as good as everyone else in turns. Steady Sneaks was looking for some room in traffic, though Maria Alexandra looked like she was coming up empty. Murky Waters still was safe to herself in back.

(Finish- 1:15.42)- With a furlong to go, you had to be feeling good about All Turned Up, who still had a two length lead over You Just Have 2 Wait. In the final moments, You Just Have 2 Wait did very well to stay with it, maintaining the same power in her stride while All Turned Up was not able to keep up the same level of pace. The combination of these two factors allowed You Just Have 2 Wait to get by for the lead just in time, and pick up her first win since the Grade 1 Test at SAR last August. All Turned Up holds on for second. Third ends up being the battle of John Henry horses with City Of Soul showing good desire to get up for third while Steady Sneaks found her way through traffic to be fourth. Good Liver is an unspectacular fifth. Murky Waters does nothing other than pass the tiring Best Of Seven and Maria Alexandra late in the stretch.

About The Winner- You Just Have 2 Wait, trained by Estero Farms and ridden to victory by V Espinoza, is a four year old fully by Just Not Adequate, and is out of Cant Hurry Love. She was bred as a yearling by Second Chance Farms in Florida, and acquired by Estero Farms for $250.000 in private sales in November 2018. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her sixth in 18 starts, her fifth stake win, and third graded win. Her career earnings are now $992.360.

Track: Fast
Time: :22³  :45²  1:09¹  1:15²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 7 Paid 55.20
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 7 – 3 Paid 491.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES