Godolphin buys West Side Bernie

ELMONT, N.Y. - Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum's Godolphin Racing has privately purchased Wood Memorial runner-up West Side Bernie from George and Lori Hall, Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford confirmed Thursday.

The horse is now at Godolphin's Belmont Park barn with assistant trainer Rick Mettee. Crisford said that the horse would get a break and possibly return to the races in the fall. The primary reason for his purchase, Crisford said, is to race in next year's Dubai Carnival of Racing.

"I don't know what connections he'll be racing for [in Dubai], but in the short term he's in our barn," Crisford said. "He's in our barn at the moment. How long he stays there I don't know. As soon as the weather warms up we might spell him somewhere and bring him back in the fall. He's definitely going to have break."

West Side Bernie, who was previously trained by Kelly Breen, won the Grade 2 Kentucky Cup Juvenile at 2 and finished second in both the Delta Jackpot and the Wood Memorial before finishing ninth in the Kentucky Derby.

"He's got really good, solid form," Crisford said. "He's an ideal candidate for racing in Dubai. Up and above that, he'll be racing in America before he goes there and when he comes back [in 2010]."