Stevie Belmont
11-28-2006, 11:02 PM
This is bound to set off some solid debate, so be it. That’s what horse racing is all about. Debate, but if I had a vote for the Eclipse award for top sprinter in the land, it would go to Discreet Cat. I know the knocks against him as he probably did not race enough to garner the award. Only one Grade I win and Grade II victory over a less than impressive field, but in this case I say quality over quantity is more deserving. He has delivered impressive efforts each and every time he has stepped on to the race track. He is undefeated in 6 starts. He has never been defeated as a race horse in his career. In my opinion he is the nation’s top sprinter of 2006.
Every race Discreet Cat has run this year has been awe inspiring. He started out his campaign in Dubai where he won both his starts. He won his first start of the year in the Areej Trophy at a mile. And a brilliant win in the UAE Derby. He was visually impressive in that victory at a mile and one eighth. His displayed a powerful long stride in delivering a dominating win. At that point he was considered a legitimate Kentucky Derby prospect. Both those wins came across the Atlantic. This is what makes this horse even more remarkable. He was still able to transfer his super form back the United States where his dominance continue to reign supreme.
His first start of the year was in an optional claiming race at Saratoga. The conditions of the race and quality of the field did not inspire anything great as far as competition goes. He hardly broke a sweat at Saratoga that day. He stopped the clock in 1:21.2 without really doing anything more than a leisurely gallop. His powerful stride was on display in an effort that showed he was in fact was getting better. That win also earned him a big speed figure. He was for real. He was a budding superstar.
His next start was another easy victory in the 7 furlong Jerome Breeder's Cup at Belmont Park on October 1st. It was his first graded stakes win in the United States. The public sent him away as a huge1-9 favorite. He showed why. Once again he delivered another superb effort. The quality of that field could easily be questioned as nothing more than ordinary. The fact of the matter was he beat them with such ease; the performance had to considered a brilliant win in the way he did it. The DRF comment said “Ran away when asked”. He earned another huge figure in the process. He had at this point already stamped himself a superstar with brilliant speed.
Alas Discreet Cat saved his best effort to date in the Cigar Mile on November 25th where he faced the 2005 Breeder’s Cup Sprint Champion and Met Mile Champion Silver Train, and the fast classy Badge of Silver, who was coming off a game try in the Breeder's Cup mile. For the first time in Discreet Cats young career he was posed a stiff challenge from champion horses in the United States. Many wondered how he would handle his first class test. How was he going to handle legitimate speed horses? Some doubted this lightly raced, over hyped horse was legitimate. No cake walks today at he Big A.
Discreet Cat answered those questions and several others with a blockbuster win. He put together arguably the best performance of the year by any horse anywhere. In fact the effort was so brilliant; it might have been one of the best performances in years by any horse anywhere. In winning the Cigar Mile, he equaled a track record of 1:32.2 held by the great Easy Goer. The win was as magnificent as the time indicated. Not only did he deliver a dominant performance in winning, he is a three old who beat older horses while giving away weight to the rest of the field! He was simply awesome in winning.
He sat behind the speedball Sharp Humor who set the opening fraction of 22.4 Than he had to deal with the best speed horse he has faced in Silver Train through extremely fast fractions of 44.4 and 1:07.4. He rolled up under a hand ride at the top of the stretch to engage Silver Train who was in an all out drive. Silver Train spurted out to a 2 length lead, but Discreet Cat looked as strong as he ever did as he mounted his winning bid. He over took Silver Train at will. Not an easy task on a track that favored front runners most of the day. The question was to be, can he now hold the late challenge of Badge of Silver after the battling through wicked fractions? Some wondered if he would be able to. I’ll be honest, I wondered myself after seeing the mind bending fractions.
He did. He had plenty left for the final furlong. He even opened up a 3 length lead as he stopped the clock in a track equaling time. It was a brilliant win. There is little doubt that the track had a speed bias that day. However the track was as fair to every horse as it was to Discreet Cat. They all ran on it and Discreet Cat put together a huge effort in beating top quality race horses.
I feel his brilliance on the track is worthy of the top sprinter in the land. Some even question if a mile is considered a true sprint anyway. I do. Any race a mile or less to me is a sprint. He won every race in more impressive fashion than the race before it. For a horse that was as dominant as he was, it should not go unrewarded.
The leading candidate for top sprinter is Thors’s Echo. I also feel he will probably win the award, and I don’t want to take anything away from him. He has had a great 2006 campaign. His BC Sprint win and Defrancis Dash win are both Grade I’s and he got the job done. He also ran a strong 2nd is the Golden Shaheen in March to Proud Tower Too. Incidentally that was same day Discreet Cat won the UAE Derby. However he has only won 2 of the 6 races he was in this year. Henny Hughes is another candidate. He was an impressive winner in all his starts this year, but a dull last place finish in the BC Sprint, all but ended any hopes of that title. Bordonaro also had stellar 2006. He displayed his true speed on California strips as well as a win at Gulfstream to start the year. All three of these horses had rock solid 2006 campaigns, but none of them were as dominant and displayed the utter brilliance in each start as Discreet Cat has. He was perfect and impressive this year.
He had the type of the 2006 that in any other year might have gotten him some type of an Eclipse award. He was a super three old in a crop that is one of the best groups that has been assembled in years. They include Barbaro, Bernardini, Henny Hughes, Showing Up, Strong Contender and Bluegrass Cat, a strong group for sure. Three of them are no longer in training. It’s almost as if Discreet Cat’s accomplishments have gone unnoticed to some extent as he has been under the radar it seems. Overshadowed by stable mate Bernardini. He was as dominant on the track as any of the horses mentioned above, if quality of wins counts for anything to voters, he should garner attention in that respect over the quantity of races that the other candidates up for the top sprinter in the nation will get.
Discreet Cat did not dance every dance. He was not in the Breeder’s Cup either, but his wins were as dominant as any sprinter this year period. They were breathtakingly easy. If beating last years Breeder’s Cup Sprint Champ and this years Met Mile champ counts for anything, and equaling a 17 year old track record Discreet Cat is the top sprinter in the land, and he is also the fastest horse in training. The year is not over yet, and there still might be some other sprinters that will chalk up some wins, but they will be hard pressed to top Discreet Cats performances.
The odds are he will not get any Eclipse Awards, but there is no doubt he is threat to take some awards next year. A older, more seasoned Discreet Cat is a scary prospect for sure. Sprints will be a thing of the past next year, as he will attempt to conquer the classic distances. I have little doubt he will succeed in that endeavor as well.
Every race Discreet Cat has run this year has been awe inspiring. He started out his campaign in Dubai where he won both his starts. He won his first start of the year in the Areej Trophy at a mile. And a brilliant win in the UAE Derby. He was visually impressive in that victory at a mile and one eighth. His displayed a powerful long stride in delivering a dominating win. At that point he was considered a legitimate Kentucky Derby prospect. Both those wins came across the Atlantic. This is what makes this horse even more remarkable. He was still able to transfer his super form back the United States where his dominance continue to reign supreme.
His first start of the year was in an optional claiming race at Saratoga. The conditions of the race and quality of the field did not inspire anything great as far as competition goes. He hardly broke a sweat at Saratoga that day. He stopped the clock in 1:21.2 without really doing anything more than a leisurely gallop. His powerful stride was on display in an effort that showed he was in fact was getting better. That win also earned him a big speed figure. He was for real. He was a budding superstar.
His next start was another easy victory in the 7 furlong Jerome Breeder's Cup at Belmont Park on October 1st. It was his first graded stakes win in the United States. The public sent him away as a huge1-9 favorite. He showed why. Once again he delivered another superb effort. The quality of that field could easily be questioned as nothing more than ordinary. The fact of the matter was he beat them with such ease; the performance had to considered a brilliant win in the way he did it. The DRF comment said “Ran away when asked”. He earned another huge figure in the process. He had at this point already stamped himself a superstar with brilliant speed.
Alas Discreet Cat saved his best effort to date in the Cigar Mile on November 25th where he faced the 2005 Breeder’s Cup Sprint Champion and Met Mile Champion Silver Train, and the fast classy Badge of Silver, who was coming off a game try in the Breeder's Cup mile. For the first time in Discreet Cats young career he was posed a stiff challenge from champion horses in the United States. Many wondered how he would handle his first class test. How was he going to handle legitimate speed horses? Some doubted this lightly raced, over hyped horse was legitimate. No cake walks today at he Big A.
Discreet Cat answered those questions and several others with a blockbuster win. He put together arguably the best performance of the year by any horse anywhere. In fact the effort was so brilliant; it might have been one of the best performances in years by any horse anywhere. In winning the Cigar Mile, he equaled a track record of 1:32.2 held by the great Easy Goer. The win was as magnificent as the time indicated. Not only did he deliver a dominant performance in winning, he is a three old who beat older horses while giving away weight to the rest of the field! He was simply awesome in winning.
He sat behind the speedball Sharp Humor who set the opening fraction of 22.4 Than he had to deal with the best speed horse he has faced in Silver Train through extremely fast fractions of 44.4 and 1:07.4. He rolled up under a hand ride at the top of the stretch to engage Silver Train who was in an all out drive. Silver Train spurted out to a 2 length lead, but Discreet Cat looked as strong as he ever did as he mounted his winning bid. He over took Silver Train at will. Not an easy task on a track that favored front runners most of the day. The question was to be, can he now hold the late challenge of Badge of Silver after the battling through wicked fractions? Some wondered if he would be able to. I’ll be honest, I wondered myself after seeing the mind bending fractions.
He did. He had plenty left for the final furlong. He even opened up a 3 length lead as he stopped the clock in a track equaling time. It was a brilliant win. There is little doubt that the track had a speed bias that day. However the track was as fair to every horse as it was to Discreet Cat. They all ran on it and Discreet Cat put together a huge effort in beating top quality race horses.
I feel his brilliance on the track is worthy of the top sprinter in the land. Some even question if a mile is considered a true sprint anyway. I do. Any race a mile or less to me is a sprint. He won every race in more impressive fashion than the race before it. For a horse that was as dominant as he was, it should not go unrewarded.
The leading candidate for top sprinter is Thors’s Echo. I also feel he will probably win the award, and I don’t want to take anything away from him. He has had a great 2006 campaign. His BC Sprint win and Defrancis Dash win are both Grade I’s and he got the job done. He also ran a strong 2nd is the Golden Shaheen in March to Proud Tower Too. Incidentally that was same day Discreet Cat won the UAE Derby. However he has only won 2 of the 6 races he was in this year. Henny Hughes is another candidate. He was an impressive winner in all his starts this year, but a dull last place finish in the BC Sprint, all but ended any hopes of that title. Bordonaro also had stellar 2006. He displayed his true speed on California strips as well as a win at Gulfstream to start the year. All three of these horses had rock solid 2006 campaigns, but none of them were as dominant and displayed the utter brilliance in each start as Discreet Cat has. He was perfect and impressive this year.
He had the type of the 2006 that in any other year might have gotten him some type of an Eclipse award. He was a super three old in a crop that is one of the best groups that has been assembled in years. They include Barbaro, Bernardini, Henny Hughes, Showing Up, Strong Contender and Bluegrass Cat, a strong group for sure. Three of them are no longer in training. It’s almost as if Discreet Cat’s accomplishments have gone unnoticed to some extent as he has been under the radar it seems. Overshadowed by stable mate Bernardini. He was as dominant on the track as any of the horses mentioned above, if quality of wins counts for anything to voters, he should garner attention in that respect over the quantity of races that the other candidates up for the top sprinter in the nation will get.
Discreet Cat did not dance every dance. He was not in the Breeder’s Cup either, but his wins were as dominant as any sprinter this year period. They were breathtakingly easy. If beating last years Breeder’s Cup Sprint Champ and this years Met Mile champ counts for anything, and equaling a 17 year old track record Discreet Cat is the top sprinter in the land, and he is also the fastest horse in training. The year is not over yet, and there still might be some other sprinters that will chalk up some wins, but they will be hard pressed to top Discreet Cats performances.
The odds are he will not get any Eclipse Awards, but there is no doubt he is threat to take some awards next year. A older, more seasoned Discreet Cat is a scary prospect for sure. Sprints will be a thing of the past next year, as he will attempt to conquer the classic distances. I have little doubt he will succeed in that endeavor as well.