Discreet Lover 'wants more,' to target Breeders' Cup again

Last year, Discreet Lover was thought to have ended his career as the eighth-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Classic who, just a race before, stunned as a deep closing 45-1 longshot in Belmont Park's Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1).

But in a Brett Favre-esque twist of fate, the 6-year-old is back in the bridle for another season on the racetrack.

“He wants more,” said Uriah St. Lewis, who owns and trains the son of Repent.

Discreet Lover will begin his march to another Breeders’ Cup appearance in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior Stakes for older horses going nine furlongs at Aqueduct.

“He’s done well there," said St. Lewis, who saddled the horse to a win in that race last season. "We’re going to see how he does [this year] and go from there -- see what kind of race would suit him best.”

Manny Franco, Discreet Lover's regular rider, will have the mount.

A career earner of more than $1.4 million, Discreet Lover was looked upon as a horse just hoping to catch a quick pace and hit the board most of last year in New York's staple races for older horses. Then Sept. 29 at Belmont came along. He caught Thunder Snow in the final strides, besting the Dubai World Cup (G1) winner by a neck.

“It wasn’t surprising to us, of course not,” St. Lewis said. “This is a horse that has gotten better with experience. He did everything we expected of him that day.”

St. Lewis' former $10,000 purchase had automatically qualified for North America's most prestigious race for older horses, the Breeders' Cup Classic.

“Hey, those were the best 14 horses that you could have raced against in the country. He didn’t get a good start. He got pushed around and took a few bumps,” St. Lewis said of the trip.

“...Again, he’s facing the best in the country, and I was happy with what I saw in that race. Some said he’s not that kind of talent -- he doesn’t belong with those horses -- but this is a horse that came back to beat [Thunder Snow], a horse that won the Dubai World Cup. They act like it’s nothing, but it’s something. Going a mile and a quarter in 1:59 and change is tough. Discreet Lover did it.”

With a consistent string of works at Lewis' Parx Racing base, Discreet Lover is “looking really good,” said the trainer, who indicated his horse is “getting stronger with age and maturing with age. He’s just a better racehorse now.”

The Excelsior will mark his 46th career start.

“There’s no magic wand when it comes to this,” St. Lewis said.  “Some horses can race 70 times.  Back then, it happened all of the time. You know, some horses, you race them a few times and they don’t want to do it anymore. [Discreet Lover] is a horse that has gotten better as time goes on. He’s a horse that wants to race.”

St. Lewis is targeting a return to the Breeders' Cup, this year scheduled to run in November at Santa Anita Park.

If he runs it, if he can get there," the trainer said, "that would be the final race for him.”