Discreet Lover Upsets Jockey Club Gold Cup
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Uriah St. Lewis (right) and his son Uriah St. Lewis Jr. lead Discreet Lover to the winner's circle after his victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park
The famed $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) celebrated its 100th running with perhaps its most unlikely yet endearing finish.
There, in the final yards, was Dubai World Cup Presented by Emirates Airline (G1) winner Thunder Snow from the globally renowned Godolphin stable, straining to reach the wire first and avenge the sting of his only other start in the United States—a fiasco when he was pulled up at the start of the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).
He had already rushed past Coolmore's $3 million yearling buy and top-level winner Mendelssohn and the 3-5 favorite Diversify, winner of the 2017 Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Whitney Stakes (G1) earlier this year.
All that stood between him and victory was the fast-closing Discreet Lover. Yes, Discreet Lover, the 5-year-old horse owned and trained by relatively unknown Parx Racing-based trainer Uriah St. Lewis, who had just six wins in 41 starts entering the Sept. 29 stakes and had developed a reputation for completing the trifecta in the recent Whitney and Suburban (G2) stakes at long odds.
Only this time, Discreet Lover was moving in storybook fashion.
"I was saying please, wire, don't come so quick," St. Lewis said.
It didn't.
In an improbable finish, Discreet Lover, at odds of 45-1 after finishing 12th in the Woodward Stakes (G1) in his previous start, caught Thunder Snow the final strides to register a neck victory and set off a raucous winner's circle. The victory gave St. Lewis his first top-level score and his first Breeders' Cup candidate, thanks to the Gold Cup—a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" race—offering the winner a free berth to the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.
"It's the first grade 1 for the horse and myself. He did it all," said St. Lewis, who has 375 winners and earnings of $9.7 million in a training career built around small circuits that started in 1988. "All I want to do is go cash my ticket."
Needless to say, a stack of Benjamins was required to pay off the owner/trainer at the betting windows as Discreet Lover paid $93 to win. The son of Repent rallied from sixth in the field of eight under Manny Franco to catch Thunder Snow in a final time of 1:59.99 in the 1 1/4-mile test over a lightning quick surface.
"I told Manny to take back and make one run. Last time (in the Woodward), he stayed too close and he didn't have any horse in the stretch," said St. Lewis, whose only other graded stakes victory came earlier this year with Discreet Lover in the April 7 Excelsior Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack. "Today we took back and made one run."
The pace definitely played in Discreet Lover's favor.
Even without help from the longshot sprinter Uno Mas Modelo, the tempo was brutal as Diversify carved out an opening half-mile in :45.64 and was in front of Mendelssohn by two lengths after six furlongs in 1:09.13.
Leaving the quarter pole, Diversify faded, leaving Mendelssohn in front with Thunder Snow in pursuit. The Godolphin runner grabbed a short lead with 70 yards to go, but could not fend off Discreet Lover's closing kick.
"I was surprised at the winner," said Saeed bin Suroor, who trains Thunder Snow. "He surprised me, really."
Behind Discreet Lover, Mendelssohn hung on gamely for third, 1 3/4 lengths behind Thunder Snow, and was followed by Carlino, Diversify, Gronkowski, Uno Mas Modelo, and Patch.
In the Breeders' Cup Classic, Discreet Lover figures to meet up again with Thunder Snow, whose performance in just his second start since the March 31 Dubai World Cup pleased bin Suroor.
"They went too fast early, but I'm happy with the way he ran the race," said bin Suroor, whose 4-year-old will be returning to the scene of his regrettable Run for the Roses—or lack thereof. "He was close to winning, but at least he ran a big race, so I'm happy. He ran his race. We'll take him to the Breeders' Cup Classic now. That was the target, really."
Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., on Diversify, said: "The track was fast and I had to go harder than usual because Mendelssohn was very quick out of there, and I needed to make the lead. I had to use a lot to make the lead. We just went a little fast."
Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds in Florida, Discreet Lover earned $412,500 to push his career total to $1,354,060. He was a $10,000 purchase by St. Lewis from his breeder's consignment to the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.