Oaklawn Park’s Road to the Kentucky Derby Begins with Discreetness

The trail to the Kentucky Derby which runs through Arkansas has become a very big deal. Recent mega stars like Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex, Lawyer Ron, Curlin, Will Take Charge, and of course, American Pharoah, have made it so. For that reason alone, it seems wise to pay special attention to the series of prep races held at Oaklawn Park, sure to send some horses on to Louisville for an opportunity to make their own history on the first Saturday in May. Today’s $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes kicked off the trail at the Hot Springs oval, and it was Discreetness who moved one step closer to Kentucky with a measured neck victory.

Trained and ridden by the popular pair of William Jinks Fires and Jon Court, Discreetness was sent off as the 9-1 third choice in the field of eleven. Such high odds were available on the third betting favorite, because of the presence of Bob Baffert and his stakes winning colt from California, Toews On Ice.

Sent off as the 3-5 favorite, that one went right to the lead, but was quickly pressed by the 21-1 outsider from the Kenny Smith barn, Gordy Florida. The Baffert runner maintained the lead through fractions of :23.46 and :47.81, but Gordy Florida was giving him no opportunity for a breather. Meanwhile, Discreetness was sitting in the catbird seat, stalking the top pair from third.

The perfect early position would pay off as Discreetness rolled into contention as the field came spinning out of the far turn. It was not Toews On Ice that he would have to run down, though, as Gordy Florida proved the better today of the battling pace setters. The game long shot could not hold off the determined rally of the horse to the outside, however; and nearing the wire it was clear Discreetness had his foe measured.

“Jon [jockey Court] and I already talked about that, you know going a mile here if you’re not one, two, three, or real very close at the three-eighths pole it’s hard to make that up,” said Fires. “So we decided to ask him a little early because you can get shuffled back around that turn it’s hard to make it up down the short stretch going a mile.”

Synchrony, the clear second choice at 3-1, made a sustained run from near the back of the pack, but briefly lacked room early in the short stretch of the Smarty Jones, and could do no better than third, beaten two lengths. Toews On Ice backed out of the proceedings down the lane to finish sixth.

Final time for the one mile on the main track listed as fast was 1:38.05. Discreetness paid $20.20 for the win, while the exacta over the long shot returned a healthy $264.20.

Owned by Xpress Thoroughbreds LLC of Dwight Pruett and Paula Barnes, Discreetness is a bay son of Discreet Cat, out of the Elusive Quality mare, Fondness. Bred in Kentucky, he was most recently purchased as a two-year-old in training for $105,000 last March at Ocala.

Today’s win marked his second straight stakes victory, having accounted for the Remington Springboard Mile in his last start as a juvenile. Discreetness raised his career record to 6-4-0-0, and it is worth noting that each of his four victories have come at different tracks, which also includes Arlington Park and Churchill Downs.

As for the unheralded runner-up, today’s race marked just the third lifetime start for Gordy Florida, having previously only had two winning sprints at Remington Park. The son of Cactus Ridge seemed to handle the step up in both class and distance just fine, though, and ran a whale of a race in defeat. Third place finisher, Synchrony finished with good energy and looks to be a horse to keep an eye on as the distances of these Kentucky Derby preps get longer.