Not So Discreet

Last year it was all Bernardini. The son of AP Indy out of Quiet American mare was expected spring towards the top of the stallion charts. He has grade one winners Stay Thirsty, who was badly snubbed in the Eclipse voting and To Honor and Serve. This year he has Alpha, who just won the Count Fleet Stakes. Bernardini is hot as fire, but there may be some competition for him in the very near future.

Discreet Cat, born of the same crop as Bernardini, was brilliant while on the track. The son of Forestry beat the great Invasor in the UAE Derby. When he headed to the United States, he was three for three, and didn’t stop. He stopped his completion in the Jerome Handicap then burning, Breeders Cup Sprint Champion and Met Mile victor, Silver Train into submission. He was retired after only three races the next year, all were well below the standard he had set for himself the year before.

Discreet Cat, never did live up to the subtleness his name suggests, not on the track, and not yesterday in the shed. Discreet Dancer, broke the Gulfstream Park track record in his initial try, for five and a half furlongs. The victory was both dominant and dazzling. He returned in 2012 just yesterday in a mile allowance. It was supposed to be a highly contentious race, many having doubts if the colt could stretch his speed over a route of ground. He had not one problem, scoring impressively, in an open gallop, by over five lengths.

Discreet Dancer was impressive winner number one, and that was on the East Coast, now let’s switch directions and head west for the Sham Stakes. The Sham was supposed to be all Secret Circle. The brilliant and previously unbeaten Bob Baffert trainee has an abundance of speed, but was attempting his first race beyond six furlongs. Top of the stretch here comes Secret Circle, steadily putting away rivals, it looked to be his, that was until a big strapping colt by the name of Out of Bounds kicked into high gear and rolled past in the shadow of the wire. Out of Bounds is by Discreet Cat, giving his sire two wins on the day, one on each coast.

Top Milers are the most sought after stallions these days and not only was Discreet Cat a top miler, he was termed as a “monster miler” by Tom Durkin. In his prime there was none faster, none who could hope to keep up with Discreet Cat. Out of Bounds, while having sprinter influences on top, has a Derby winner on bottom. He stands at 17 hands tall, and is a big long striding colt. Discreet Dancer may have more speed influence, but if anyone watched yesterday, that colt had plenty left in the tank. He rated on the lead and finished like a monster.

Both these colts give Discreet Cat two very legitimate chances in the upcoming Kentucky Derby, meaning that should Alpha or any other Bernardini’s spring up, the Derby could wind up being a Bernardini vs Discreet Cat showdown.

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