Not being funny, but was he, though?

His UAE Derby win wasn't exactly brilliant. Okay, he beat Invasor, who was unfit and half the horse he turned out to be, hence why he was allowed to go off at 16/1. What else did he beat?

He only managed to win two graded races after then (only one at Grade one level) when he was 1-20 and 1-4 favourite.

I will admit, he looked very good when winning the Cigar Mile.

But does his form give him the right to be called "brilliant"? Not in my opinion.

No Chance, Ill agree with you that the guys you mentioned had better seasons than DCat last year, but on ratings, DCat is well up there with the class of 2006. His Cigar Mile win when as a 3yo he gave Silver Wagon 4pounds and Badge of Silver 7pounds and a beating in a super quick time was one of the performances of the year. That alone puts him right up with Invasor and Deep Impact when considering who the best horse of 2006 was..

Visually that race was very impressive, but i can't help but think that if that race was it was cracked up to be, why was he 1-4?

Without doubt, it was a super quick time and he impressed me. But was that a fluke? On all of his form, you'd probably have to come down on saying "yes". He won one Grade 1 race, and in my mind that doesn't make him a brilliant or a great horse. A good one? Yes, but that is as far as it goes for me.

I think he is a horse you either really like or really don't rate. I'm very much in the second group. I'm sorry, but i never really saw the brilliance that other people did.

When you book a mare to a stallion do you really give a dam how many horses were better then the stallion you want.

Forestry's have been commercially successful and fast. Not my favorite but DC will certainly be an interesting prospect. How sucessful he will or won't be is anyone's guess. I suggest the Godolphin folks will give him plenty of quality mares in his first few seasons.

As for how good DC really was? I think he was pretty special but who knows how much better or worse his career could have been if handled by a more stable training environment?

he was 1-4 because he had never even looked like being out of 2nd gear in any race before.and despite the useful competition, many thought of him as the best horse owned by Sheikh Mo. that race certainly wasnt a fluke IMO, it was a culmination of a cautious season with him that allowed him to show how good he was instead of rushing him into a derby trail preperation. if you look at his RPRs, he had steady improvement every race up until the Cigar Mile... something went wrong this winter and he never recovered..

We will have to agree to disagree. I've never thought the horse was anything special.

Certainly not good enough to be referred to as "brilliant".

He was a good horse, but also a very fragile one.

just saw that discreet cat will stand for 30k.

and someone said that stud fees are low?!

That is reasonable. A 30k stud fee for a horse with Grade 1 wins at a mile is not bad.

but i wouldn't call it low either, his or anyone's. obviously they'll get the most they think they can...

If he retired at the end of last year I believe he would have been in the 60 to 75 range which makes 30 look ok

Memories.....

Echo..... :)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=0

* * *

DC.....


http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=4

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...arch&plindex=5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_4tZHFYf0U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ0rGZ8eAgY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BZaO3UaKHw

oh, definitely didn't do his owners any favors. certainly a good bit lower than if he had kept up the promise he showed last year. i think they'd have been a lot better off had they kept him here rather than shipping him to dubai and back again, considering how he did after shipping in last spring...

No tears for the owners...

well, no...certainly not. they kept the wrong one in training for this year.

Discreet Cat's throat issue was never cleared up.

He was last at every stage in a paceless running of the 10 furlong WC. His race in the Vosburgh was probably the biggest eyesore of the decade...beating the gate and putting himself in a dream spot...and even at six furlongs, he readily gave ground in a race run in a Merry-Go-Round fashion. Desperatly winning a 4-way photo for 3rd place.

In his final work before the Breeders Cup, he was kept well off the rail, and worked an effortless five furlongs in 57.46 - a work so highly regarded that his odds dropped markedly for the Dirt Mile in off-shore books.

Anyone with any sense - who saw his Vosburgh knew the work meant nothing...as he was sure to struggle tremendously when put to pressure, as his throat and ability to breath was still an issue.

No one thought more of him than me....and he had NO CHANCE to hit the board in Dirt Mile - even though he was running against a crap field.

Somehow, he did hit the board - 3rd beaten a pole.

Oh my. Who's gonna try to beat up on those 5-horse fields with the great Discreet Cat retired? :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

That is what i was thinking. You would think that the amount of money they have they would have given him a serious check over by only the best vets before making the decision to run him again.

The fact that they got him back to the track, not once but twice suggests that they were 100% happy that his throat problems had cleared up for good.

Common Sense.

Anyone who saw the Vosburgh and didn't realize he was done is hopeless.

His connections get their best efforts off of layoffs - he's run monster races off of layoffs- he showcases great raw athletic ability to beat the gate and sit the dream tactical trip (a clear 3rd behind two dueling leaders in a race that featured no passing)

And with that trip (BY FAR the best tactical trip he's had in his entire career) he readily faded. He beat 7th place by less than a length.

I saw his workout that had all those clockers raving --- and still picked him to finish 5th in the Dirt Mile.

My impression... When Darley enters a horse, any horse, they feel they can win that race. Whereas Coolemore is a much higher risk management.