Discreet Cat - Sprint or Nothing
 

Appears he is going to go in the Sprint or Cigar Mile. Should be a very interesting sprint race if he goes.

I'd be very surprised if he went in the sprint. Stunned would be a better word. No way do they cut him back and ask him to mix it up in a big field with a scorching pace.
Hes been attending much more moderate fractions and asking him to go with or rate off a 44 half mile would be too much of a shock, and they know it.
My guess is that they are just putting it out there to have people believe that they are considering it.
I'd guess its 10-1 against him running there. The Vosburgh runners and Ancient Title runners would have to really flop.

And you can make that 1000-1 if Henny Hughes runs big this weekend.
They've shown complete disdain in regards to running their horses against each other on anything but World Cup Day in Dubai.

Cigar Mile then Dubai World Cup

I think the only chance of them running him in the Sprint is if Henny loses Saturday.

There's the point that should be taken. It would have to be a poor showing by Henny to make them choose the Sprint. And they wont go against their big boy in Bernadini... we wont see him on BC day.

Which just goes to show that they think Discreet Cat MAY be a better horse than Bernardini. Where's the fun in that? :rolleyes:

Bernadini is the better stallion prospect... where's the money in that? lol :p

If Henny Hughes loses on Saturday? If ?
You guys are acting like Henny Hughes is this overwhelming favorite like Bernardini running against no competition.

Wrong. He has to beat 2 of the best older sprinters in training, Silver Train and War Front. Hes going to face pace pressure like hes never seen before with stalkers and closers that can actually run. In addition, Whos the Cowboy has some huge numbers, albeit against much lesser in Jersey. But while he hasnt exactly been beating world beaters, neither has Henny Hughes.

I dont think Henny Hughes losing in the Vosburgh would be a big disgrace and certainly nothing that would immediately thrust Discreet Cat into the BC Sprint in his place.

This is a huge acid test for Henny. Not saying he cant win, but lets be reasonable here. Hes a 3 year old against 2 or 3 very nice older horses.

I dont think Henny has to win, per se, just not disgrace himself. I think Henny is better than he's shown so far. Lets see if im right.

I don't think the intent here is to argue whether or not Henny will win. The point is that if Henny wins the Vosburgh we will not see Discreet Cat in the BC Sprint. It seems we all pretty much agree on that.

But the post made it sound like anything less than a win would mean they wouldnt try him back in the BC Sprint. I dont think thats right.

What if he runs a nice race but runs 2nd or 3rd? I dont think the BC Sprint is going to come up all that much tougher than the Vosburgh. I have a strong feeling that the winner of the BC Sprint comes from the Vosburgh.

I'm not saying if he finishes second or third that they won't still run him in the Sprint and Discreet Cat in the Cigar Mile. Chances are that is how it will play out. All I'm saying is if Henny wins the Vosburgh then there is no way we see Discreet Cat in the Sprint.

I agree 100%.

Well, if they're supposed to be such "sporting" people, you would think they'd want to have a bit of fun. And besides... what are they worried about? If Bernardini is the greatest thing ever (like everyone else around here keeps posting), then why should they worry about Discreet Cat? Personally, I think it only proves that Bernardini ISN'T what everyone keeps cracking him up to be. :p

It doesn't really matter who they think is better, only one of them can win the race which means one of them has to lose. If they think Discreet Cat is better then running him would hurt Bernardini's stallion value. If they think Bernardini is better then they lose an undefeated horse. They might as well keep them separate and have the big matchup on their home turf in the Dubai World Cup.

I understand that...

It's just the point that everyone keeps talking about how the Sheik's are such sporting people. Sporting people don't normally play the cards like that, that's all.

Henny is old enough where the age shouldnt really be a factor. More of a factor will be the horses hes facing, real battle tested racehorses. Not just ****cans thrown in to get their heads jerked off. I think hes a fantastic horse, but I think Silver Train will win the race, whats the shame in that?

Also, why is Bernardini the big boy? Discrete Cat is just as big of a boy, and just as serious of a horse.

Henny Hughes and Discreet Cat are owned by two different men(son/father). Discreet Cat is not BC-bound. Even if Discreet Cat is better than Bernardini(which I doubt), Bernardini is the third-coming of Seattle Slew/A.P. Indy as far as sire-potential exists. He will follow in some special footsteps.

You guys realize that they are dealin with 3 yo HOY in Bernadini if he wins this race and runs in the top 3 in the classic. Running the Cat aginst him is a bad ideal cause they know the cat will beat him and then the voting will stay with Barbaro

If I owned DC, I would put him into the Cigar Mile. I wouldn't want to throw a three year old who has only raced 4 times, never in GI competition, to the wolves so to speak.

I don't think that's what it means at all.

Why should it be assumed that because DC is not going to the Classic that the Sheikh is afraid to run Bernardini against DC? The simplest explanation is the best: it's asking too much of the Cat to run against top horses after being sparingly raced this year. It's also very possible that the Sheikh thinks Bernardini is a better horse than DC - it would hardly be a stretch to think that.

They have said no such thing -has the Sheikh personally confided in you that he thinks DC is better than Bernardini?

It's amazing the skepticsm that surrounds Bernardini because people don't like the hype, yet DC receives as much hype and no one has a problem with that? Why is it that everyone seems to assume the Sheikh feels that DC is better than Bernardini, as if it would be far-fetched for him to think the opposite.

I never said that. I believe that both colts are overhyped. :D

Overhyped? And who exactly do you think is justifiably ranked? Andromedas Hero?

If Bernardini and Discreet cat dont do it for you, who does?

Not a single one, right now. I'm more impressed with Lava Man than I am either one of those two. I'm not arguing that both Bernardini and Discreet Cat aren't talented horses, but do they both REALLY deserve the crowns they're being given right now? Bernardini has what, 6 starts? Discreet Cat, 5? Come on Gander...

Excuse me for not wanting to annoint two lightly raced colts who (with the exception of a very suspect UAE race) have beaten hardly anybody...

Yes, I appear to be the only one impressed with these 2 horses. Please. I am the biggest Lava Man in NY but to be more impressed with him than Bernardini? Were you impressed with Flower Alley last year?

It's obvious if Bernardini runs the Cat won't they WILL NOT face each other! DC ran 109 flat as a 2 year old and got a 106 beyer blowin SUPERFLY out of the water. Its not hype this horse is the real deal. All these publication like equibase, thorograph, the sheets are off the chart on this horse. He is a once in a lifetime animal.

Nope, never liked Flower Alley at all, actually. And I definitely don't think you're the only one impressed with Bernardini and Discreet Cat. On the contrary, I'm the one who looks like an idiot for not being sold on either one of them YET.

So is/was Bellamy Road. ;) (Who I was very impressed with, actually.)

By the way, I use beyers as a tool, but don't look to them exclusively. If I had to pick either Bernardini or Discreet Cat, I would say that DC is the faster horse. Technically, we'll never know because they won't be raced against one another.

Well Cajun at least we agree on Flower Alley. However I am very impressed with Bernardini. Discreet Cat looks very good but its hard to get excited about horses who race 3 or 4 times a year.

I agree. I always thought Ghostzapper was the goods, but he hardly ran, so it was tough to get excited about that. I hope you guys are right about Bernardini and I hope he runs next year too. It would be nice to see another top horse run for more than one season, you know?

And so is Bernardini - have you read the quotes from John Ferguson and the Sheikh's son? Clearly they are in awe of this colt and the Sheikh is pretty happy, too. I'm not saying that they don't feel this way about DC, but I'm just as sure they are as proud of and confident in Bernardini (plus he's a homebred, and that means something to the Sheikh)

Discreet Cat-tastic.........
 

I feel this horse is brilliant, and I could see him winning either the sprint of the mile. Back to Dubai, I wonder how he'd react to that though, would it be a first? I may not have been following the sport long enough to know, if a horse has come here conquered the BC and then gone back to win the DWC, would be quite an accomplishment.

Pleasantly Perfect

Cigar did too

Good Call.......
 

P-perfect totally slipped my mind, he was impressive as hell! Thanks for bringing back memories of a great horse.