Hammers Bullet, a three-year-old son of Bernardini, posted a wire-to-wire victory July 9 in the Listed Harry Jeffrey Stakes at Assiniboia Downs over 1700m. It was the first Stakes win for the colt who had placed in the Golden Boy Stakes over the same track less than one month ago.
Eagerly breaking to the front, Hammers Bullet held that position throughout the race and dug in to maintain his advantage in the home straight.
The Bernardini colt was bred by Stonerside Stable and is out of Country Melody, by Gone West. He is a half-brother to the Stakes-placed runner Bequia Beauty. His dam is a half-sister to G1 winner Bob and John as well as Stakes-winning Connie Belle.
The sire of seven G1 horses, Bernardini is the only first-season sire to have ever sired G1 winners on both dirt and turf. Currently a leading sophomore sire in the USA, his best runners include G1 winners A Z Warrior and Biondetti. Just this week, his two-year-old daughter Gamilati began to repeat history with a fantastic victory in the G2 Cherry Hinton Stakes at Newmarket.
Bernardini will stand the forthcoming southern hemisphere breeding season for a fee of $38,500 (inc GST) at Darley Kelvinside.