Champion racehorse, and successful sire, Bernardini has died. He was 18 years old and had been suffering from laminitis.
Bernardini won six races in a row during a dazzling 2006 sophomore campaign, earning Eclipse champion 3-year-old honors and being rated world champion 3-year-old. Trained by Tom Albertrani, the son of A.P. Indy broke his maiden in his second start at Gulfstream Park in March by almost eight lengths before capturing the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct in April. He then won in the Preakness, giving Sheikh Mohammed his first victory in an American Triple Crown race.Later that summer, he easily won the G2 Jim Dandy and G1 Travers Stakes by nine and seven lengths at Saratoga, before a dominant six-and-three-quarter length victory in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup against older horses at Belmont Park, earning a career-best 117 Beyer.  He finished his career with a runner-up finish to Invasor in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.Retired to stud, Bernardini (whose first crop included four G1 winners) sired 80 Black Type winners, 48 Graded Stakes winners, and 15 G1 winners worldwide.
In recent years, Bernardini has been making a name for himself as one of the best broodmare sires in the history of the breed. In May 2021, he became the youngest stallion ever to reach 50 Black Type winners as a broodmare sire.