Discreetly Mine overpowers Amsterdam rivals

Discreetly Mine notched his third graded win of the year in the Amsterdam (Harold Roth/Horsephotos.com)

E. Paul Robsham's homebred DISCREETLY MINE (Mineshaft) punched his ticket to

the August 28 King's Bishop S. (G1) in emphatic style in Monday's $150,000

Amsterdam S. (G2) at Saratoga. Tracking in second behind Essence Hit Man (Speightstown)

as that rival zipped through fractions of :21 2/5 and :44, Discreetly Mine

confronted the leader at the top of the stretch, put him away and drew off

comfortably to win by 8 3/4 lengths under John Velazquez. The final time was a

swift 1:14 1/5 for 6 1/2 furlongs over the fast main track. The 3-5 favorite,

Discreetly Mine returned $3.20, $2.60 and $2.20.

"The way he was rolling, I thought he was going to threaten Quality Road's

(Elusive Quality) track record there for a second," said winning trainer Todd

Pletcher, who trained Quality Road to a victory in the 2009 Amsterdam in a time

of 1:13 3/5.

Essence Hit Man, an 8-1 chance, held second by 1 1/2 lengths over 25-1 shot

In Jack's Memory (Malibu Moon), who raced in third throughout. Essence Hit Man

paid $5.20 and $3.80 while completing the $24.20 exacta. In Jack's Memory gave

back $6.20 and capped the $240 trifecta. The 11-1 Latigo Shore (Malibu Moon), a

length behind In Jack's Memory after trailing through the opening-half-mile,

finished the 5-4-7-3 superfecta worth $1,329. The order of finish was rounded

out by Rule by Night (Malibu Moon), Safe Trip (Tale of the Cat), Backtrack

(Grand Slam), Make Note (Read the Footnotes) and General Maximus (Freud).

Catalan (Holy Bull) was scratched.

A Saratoga maiden winner in his third career start for trainer Stanley Hough,

Discreetly Mine endured an eventful stakes bow in the Futurity S. (G2), where he

hit the gate and was steadied, but recovered to finish a clear second to the

talented D' Funnybone (D'wildcat). Next time out in the Champagne S. (G1),

Discreetly Mine dueled early, took the lead in the stretch, but yielded to

Homeboykris (Roman Ruler).

Switched to Pletcher for his three-year-old campaign, he bobbled at the start

of the January 9 Spectacular Bid S., was slammed on the turn, and splashed home

an unhappy fourth in the slop. He then wired the field in the Risen Star S. (G3)

at Fair Grounds, but was only fourth as the mild 7-2 favorite in the Louisiana

Derby (G2). Beaten more than 25 lengths when 13th in the Kentucky Derby (G1),

Discreetly Mine fared better when second to old rival D' Funnybone in the Woody

Stephens S. (G2) two back. Last time, the bay rallied from fourth to take the

six-furlong Jersey Shore S. (G3) at Monmouth by 1 1/4 lengths. His record now

stands at 12-4-4-0, $649,350.

"It looks like (he's a sprinter)," Pletcher said. "To watch him train all

winter, I really felt we were on the Derby trail in a legitimate way. The way he

trained and galloped out I thought he might be able to do it, but now that we've

backed up in distance he's obviously found his niche

"We'd certainly be thinking about the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at this

point, but that's a ways away, so we'll see how he bounces out of this and go

from there."

Produced by Alabama S. (G1) heroine Pretty Discreet (Private Account) in

Kentucky, Discreetly Mine is a half-brother to Discreet Cat (Forestry), hero of

the Cigar Mile H. (G1); multiple stakes winner and Grade 1-placed Pretty Wild

(Wild Again); Grade 3-placed Discreet Treasure (El Prado [Ire]); and the unraced

Discreetly Awesome (Awesome Again), the dam of last year's Matron S. (G2) queen

Awesome Maria (Maria's Mon). This is the family of 1987 Kentucky Oaks (G1) queen

Buryyourbelief (Believe It).