Discreet Cat vs. Bernardini unlikely to happen

BELMONT, N.Y. - The ease and brilliance Discreet Cat displayed winning his comeback race last month at Saratoga had racing fans looking forward to the undefeated 3-year-old facing top-quality competition in the fall.

That anticipation turned to disappointment when Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin Racing, which owns Discreet Cat, laid out a fall campaign that didn't include the Breeders' Cup Classic, but does include Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Jerome Handicap at Belmont Park.
Despite being assigned 124 pounds for the Jerome, Discreet Cat will likely roll to a victory, making him 5 for 5 in his career and raising the volume for Discreet Cat to face Preakness and Travers winner Bernardini and the best older horses in training in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic Nov. 4 at Churchill Downs.
Since Sheikh Mohammed's Darley Stable owns Bernardini, a Discreet Cat-Bernardini meeting is unlikely to happen. Provided Bernardini makes it to the Classic, Discreet Cat will likely target the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Nov. 25.

Rick Mettee, who runs Godolphin's New York operation, said this was not the original plan, but it is the right plan. Discreet Cat, who won the UAE Derby by seven lengths in March - beating subsequent three-time U.S. Grade 1 winner Invasor - was being targeted for some of this country's biggest 3-year-old races in the summer before getting sick in June.
"His getting sick screwed up everything," Mettee said. "He would have gone Dwyer, he would have run in a couple of those big summertime races. We would have had a completely different agenda. You might have even seen him in against older horses in one of those races. We have to do the right thing now by him. It might not be a popular thing, but the right move for him right now is the Jerome Oct. 1. That is the right move regardless of where we go the next race."
On Aug. 25, five months after the UAE Derby, Discreet Cat won a third-level allowance race by 11 lengths at Saratoga. He ran seven furlongs in 1:21.53 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 112.
"I don't think I ever saw a horse win at seven-eighths quite that easy," Mettee said. "It was a solid three-other-than. Nobody really stepped up and ran a big race, but on paper it didn't look like that bad a race. It certainly was a lot tougher than his comeback race in Dubai. That would have been like an a-other-than at Philly Park. I thought he might get a little [tired] in the race so, yes, I was a little taken aback by it."
On Monday, Discreet Cat completed preparations for Saturday's Jerome by working five furlongs in 59.67 seconds over Belmont Park's main track. It was the fastest of 25 moves at the distance. Under regular rider Garrett Gomez, Discreet Cat went his first three furlongs in 36 seconds, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.40.

"They have to work a little harder to get through this track, so probably just from training down here he's probably a little fitter horse," Mettee said. "They always seem to blow harder over this track."
Discreet Cat will likely have three or four rivals in the Jerome. Noonmark, runner-up in the Swale, is confirmed. Trainer Pat Reynolds said he may run Valid Notebook, who won a second-level allowance race going a mile here on Sept. 9. Brilliant Son is also possible, according to trainer Chuck Simon. Nick Zito or Richard Dutrow Jr. could each provide a runner as well.