Discreet Lover, Uriah St. Lewis are underdogs

A Trinidadian-born horseman based in Pennsylvania, St. Lewis has taken a horse he once purchased for $10,000 – Discreet Lover – into the field for Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Of the horses in the Classic, six were auctioned for at least $120,000, including Mendelssohn, who as a yearling went for $3 million at the 2016 Keeneland September sale.

In his most recent race, however, Mendelssohn finished third.

Discreet Lover finished first.

St. Lewis’ horse was a 45-to-1 longshot in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes at Belmont Park on Sept. 29, when he ran from 16 lengths behind at one point to edge out second-place Thunder Snow, who like Mendelssohn, is another former Kentucky Derby horse in this year’s Classic.

It was a seismic result in horse racing, automatically sending Discreet Lover to the Classic.

So here is St. Lewis, boasting that his horse can do it again against some of the best thoroughbreds in the world on one of the biggest stages in the sport.

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“People are taken aback when they see him,” said Barbara Hutnyk, a family friend who has worked with St. Lewis for 26 years. “They don’t put two and two together that this little black guy with an accent is the owner and trainer of a horse in one of the biggest races in this country. I think I would probably be taken aback too, but I know him, and I know what he can do. …

“People think he’s crazy. But he’s crazy smart.”

Fitting with the underdog theme, Belmont track announcer Larry Collmus erroneously called the eventual winning horse “Discreet Image” for most of that Jockey Club Gold Cup.

In his past seven races entering Saturday, all graded stakes, Discreet Lover (20-1 on the morning line for the Classic) has had odds of at least 12-1 in all of them and at least 38-1 in four of them. As a 79-1 shot in Belmont in June, he finished fourth. As a 41-1 shot in Belmont in July, he finished third.

“I’m accustomed to that. He’s accustomed to that,” St. Lewis said. “All his life he’s been high odds. … Every time he goes to whatever racetrack he goes, he shows up.”

Against the odds again, St. Lewis has remained playfully confident entering Saturday’s race, saying he’d like a big victory over the field “to beat them up so they have no excuse.”

And is he betting on this happening? Heck, yeah.

“I’m going to put my money where my mouth is,” he said.

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St. Lewis has described this run with Discreet Lover as “once-in-a-lifetime, I think. It’s been so different.”

That’s because this race has brought St. Lewis’ first-ever trip to Churchill Downs, a remarkable fact for a man with decades of experience in horse racing.

“It’s different,” he said. “I mean, I’ve been to Saratoga, all over the place, but when you walk in the building, you’re like, ‘Wow.’ This is (a) racetrack. All the rest of them is just tracks.”

Discreet Lover first raced in July 2015, recording a speed figure of 44. He has continued to improve in order to race in stakes company. The Jockey Club Gold Cup featured a career-best speed figure for a 5-year-old horse now reaching the end of his racing career.

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Trainer Uriah St. Lewis, at Churchill Downs for the first time in his career, which started in 1988. He said he’s ‘putting his money where his mouth is’ and betting on Classic hopeful Discreet Lover. Oct. 31, 2018. (Photo: Matt Stone/Louisville Courier Journal)

He is described by St. Lewis as an exceptionally smart horse who simply loves to race.

“He’s the consummate racehorse,” Hutnyk said. “He just enjoys it. He loves it. You can tell when his races are coming up, he knows it. His demeanor changes. Truthfully, it does. It’s like he puts on a race face, and he’s a different horse. It’s amazing to watch him.”

Saturday’s race is special for Discreet Lover and St. Lewis’ team beyond the setting and high stakes. It is to be the 5-year-old horse’s final race. After what will be his 45th career start (and so far, $1.37 million in earnings on the track), Discreet Lover will be retired to stud. Said Hutnyk of the possibility of a Breeders’ Cup upset in a walk-off performance, “I’m tearing up just thinking of it.”

 “He’s just focused. He wants to do it,” St. Lewis said. “I think he just wanted to prove everybody wrong – ‘Why do you guys keep saying he’s not that good?’ He’s doing everything right. …

“After this weekend, they’ll be talking about him.”