Discreet Cat, the world champion 3-year-old who went on to forge a thriving career at stud, siring five individual Grade/Group 1 winners, has been euthanized due to the infirmities of old age at Darley's Hokkaido base.
Trained by Saeed bin Suroor for Godolphin (having been acquired after breaking his maiden in impressive style at Saratoga at two), Discreet Cat chalked up five straight victories during an unbeaten 3-year-old campaign.
He commenced with a pair of wins at Nad Al Sheba, the latter being a six-length romp in the Group 2 UAE Derby. Upon returning to the U.S., he went on to win the G2 Jerome Handicap by an astounding 10 1/2 lengths.
Discreet Cat's finest victory on the racecourse came in the G1 Cigar Mile, where he equaled the track record at Aqueduct and sealed his title of co-world champion 3-year-old of 2006 in the Longines World's Best Racehorse rankings.
Discreet Cat initially retired to Darley's Jonabell Farm in Kentucky, where he sired 62 stakes performers including Grade 1 winners Discreet Marq, Dads Caps, Secret Compass and Secret Spice. He also successfully shuttled to Brazil, siring Group 1 winner Taksim among his 16 stakes performers.
He relocated to Japan in 2017 going on to sire Group 1 horses Combustion and recent G2 Keio Hai Nisai winner Obamburumai. His best year yet in Japan came in 2022, with 23 juvenile winners and eight black type performers.
Harry Sweeney, President of Darley in Japan said, “This has been a very tough day for us at Darley Japan. Though Discreet Cat was already 14 years old when he arrived in Japan, he was nevertheless embraced by Japanese breeders and covered more than 750 mares during his sojourn here and the resulting progeny have collectively already won more than $20 million on the track. Though primarily a dirt sire, he was also capable of getting elite turf performers which further heightened his appeal. Indeed, one such horse, Obamburumai, was narrowly beaten into third in the Group 1 NHK Mile Cup earlier this month.
“Discreet Cat was a very gentle horse and was a pleasure to work with. There were plenty of tears in our stallion barn today.”
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