JC Gold Cup Winner Discreet Lover Returns to Worktab

Discreet Lover, longshot winner of the Sept. 29 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park, breezed four furlongs in :48.63 at Parx Racing Oct. 10, his first workout since being placed on the vet's list in the wake of his upset victory.

Owner/trainer Uriah St. Lewis said he had to wait 10 days after Discreet Lover's score before they could work him in front of state veterinarians, and he expects his charge to be removed from the list following Wednesday's move.

"He did good. He had to work off the vet's list, which he did," St. Lewis did. "He recovered like two days after the race, but we just had to wait the 10 days. So he ran the 29th, we had to wait until the ninth or the 10th, and we decided to do it on a non-race day."

St. Lewis added that the only explanation he was given for Discreet Lover being placed on the vet's list was "they said they didn't like how he was moving.

"That's all they told me," he said. " And they can do that because they're in charge."

Discreet Lover, a son of Repent, was previously placed on the vet's list in New York June 9 after being vanned off and treated for heat exhaustion following his fourth-place finish in the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at Belmont. He returned to finish third in the July 7 Suburban Stakes (G2).

With the "all clear" expected, St. Lewis can now focus on heading to Churchill Downs for the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) with the star of one of the great sentimental stories in racing.

Purchased by St. Lewis for $10,000 out of the 2015 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale, Discreet Lover has been knocking around in stakes company the past couple of seasons, but he has enjoyed his best form at the age of 5. In April, he earned his first graded triumph when he captured the Excelsior Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack. He followed up his Suburban effort with another third-place showing in the Aug. 4 Whitney Stakes (G1) but was dismissed at odds of 45-1 in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on the heels of his 12th-place finish in the Sept. 1 Woodward Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1).

"I just thank God. It's one of those situations that any man who is in this business would want to be in," St. Lewis said of his Breeders' Cup prospects. "We just take it one day at a time. And we thank God. God is the one doing everything. I am only a passenger."

St. Lewis said he has been waiting to put the vet's list issue behind Discreet Lover before making arrangements on when they would ship to Louisville.

"Between tonight and tomorrow, we should start making all those decisions," he said. "We couldn't do (anything) until we get him off the vet's list. Now, we go from there."