Champion Bertrando dead at 25

Bertrando, an earner of more than $3 million who won an Eclipse Award as the

champion older male in 1993, died recently at River Edge Farm in California.

Owner Marty Wygod confirmed the death to Daily Racing Form on Friday.

A California-bred son of 1986 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Skywaker,

Bertrando was the leading American-based juvenile of 1991 when he captured the

Del Mar Futurity by 3 1/2 lengths and the Norfolk at Santa Anita by nine

lengths. However, he missed out on championship honors when second best by five

lengths to the France-based Arazi in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill

Downs.

Bertrando missed the 1992 classics after winning the San Felipe and finishing

second to eventual Horse of the Year A.P. Indy in the Santa Anita Derby. He

returned to action in December of that year, finishing a close third in the

Malibu.

In his championship campaign of 1993, Bertrando captured the San Fernando at

Santa Anita by nine lengths, the Pacific Classic at Del Mar by three lengths and

the Woodward at Belmont Park by 13 1/2 lengths. He also placed in the Charles H.

Strub, Metropolitan Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup, and Philip H. Iselin Handicap,

and fared best among the U.S.-based participants when second to 133-1 French

invader Arcangues in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

Bertrando stood at stud during the 1994 breeding season, but returned to the

races that summer. After a winning comeback in the Wickerr over turf at Del Mar,

Bertrando won only one of his remaining seven starts, taking the Goodwood

Handicap at Santa Anita in October 1994. He was permanently retired in early

1995 with a mark of 24-9-6-2, $3,185,610.

Bertrando, who was 25 at the time of his death, was trained by Bruce Headley

through 1992, by the late Bobby Frankel in 1993, and by John Shirreffs in 1994

and 1995.

A successful sire in California, Bertrando's leading offspring include Grade

1 winners Officer, Karelian, Unfurl the Flag, Bilo, and Tamarando. The latter is

a current Kentucky Derby candidate with victories in the Del Mar Futurity and El

Camino Real Derby.