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