Dissecting a Cross: Street Sense/Bernardini

Is the hype around the cross that produced G1Ws Maxfield and Speaker's Corner justified?

Last year, there were three six-figure yearlings sold at Keeneland September by Street Sense and out of mares by Bernardini. The $403,333 average for those foals (the other two bred on the cross went unsold) was nearly double Street Sense’s $211,500 yearling average in 2022. Thus far in this year’s edition of the sale, two yearlings bred on this cross have sold for $210,000 and $200,000. The direct cross has produced three stakes winners in 32 starters, including G1 winners Maxfield and Speaker’s Corner.

Quite a few people have been asking recently about my opinion on this cross, and with the second week of the Keeneland September yearling sale upon us, I wanted to do a bit of theorizing around it, and after some research, I was surprised at the conclusion I came to.

Elite Individuals

Street Sense

Both Street Sense and Bernardini were classic winning racehorses and elite stallions. Street Sense was the first horse to complete the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile/Kentucky Derby double, demonstrating both precocity and brilliance in his 13-race career. In addition to those prestigious races, he also captured the G1 Travers in the summer of his three-year-old season.

Bernardini, meanwhile, raced just eight times, all at age three, but demonstrated remarkable brilliance in his career. He broke his maiden by over seven lengths in his second career start, beginning a six-race win streak that would include victories in the Preakness, Travers, and Jockey Club Gold Cup. He closed out his career with a runner-up finish to Invasor in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.