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Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS
I don't really understand how a horse that is about to recieve Horse of the Year honors can also be considered "the most underrated" horse in training.
Discreet Cat just toyed with Invasor in late March (I know, it was on foreign soil)---and he has pretty much toyed with everything else he's run against. The lowest figure he's ever run in his entire career, a 106, came in August when he debuted as a 2-year-old.
He ran a faster adjusted final time, in that race, his 2-year-old debut....than did a 9-for-9 (at the time) King's Bishop winner named Lost in the Fog on that same card. Discreet Cat's maiden was also run in faster adjusted final time than the Hopeful Stakes, also run on the same card, a race which featured First Samurai, Henny Hughes, and Too Much Bling as it's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers. That's the kind of stuff you never see from a debuter.
They took DC to Dubai for the winter---and several very sharp people came right out and said it spelled the end of him. "He would be ruined", etc. He survived silly mismanagement...just as he will survive another winter of silly mismanagement while stabled in Dubai.
Discreet will win no year-end honor...but, he would be bet to favortisim over any horse in the country, at any distance, ranging from 6.5 furlongs on dirt-to-1 1/4 miles on dirt. I wouldn't call DC "underrated" though---as his ability and talent is obvious...and he's had A LOT of hype.
DC is coming back, If Barbaro doesn't win an Eclipse award...an outstanding case could be made that he is one of the all-time most talented horses to never win a championship. Barbaro is the one American 3-year-old turf horse I've seen during my lifetime, who had the ability to be considered an almost certain winner of the Epsom Derby. He was jaw-dropping on turf....and, perfect stalking trip or not, his performance in the Kentucky Derby was totally outstanding.
Barbaro obviously couldn't be labeled "underrated" though.
In my opinion, the most underrated horse in the country might be Any Given Saturday. He's never won a stake race, his accomplishments are modest, and his talent is pretty big.
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