Bob Hill
Staff writer
Tracksideview.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – E. Paul Robinson’s Discreetly Mine asserted himself as the unquestioned top three-year-old sprinter with a dominating gate-to-wire performance in the 26^th running of the Grade 1 King’s Bishop.  After finishing a distant 13^th in the Kentucky Derby trainer Todd Pletcher turned the son of Mineshaft back to sprinting, and Discreetly Mine has responded with three wins and a second at distances of six, six-and-a-half, and seven furlongs.  The King’s Bishop is his first Grade 1 victory.

The winner, under jockey John Velazquez, ripped off fractions of 21.90, 44.11 and 1:09.44 on his way to stopping the timer at 1:23.16. 

“The plan was, if he broke well, to let him go away from there and let him do it. He was going well all the way, even though we were going pretty fast. I was hoping he’d be able to give me something down the stretch, and he gave me everything he had,” Velazquez said.

Bulldogger pressed that pace until he began to fade in mid-turn as the closers began to overtake all but the winner.  Bank Merger moved on the outside as Hurricane Ike passed tiring horses on the inside, but neither made headway in catching Discreetly Mine.  Bank Merger got home second, and Latigo Shore, the longest shot on the board, nipped Hurricane at the wire for third place, boosting prices in the trifecta and superfecta. 

D’Funnybone, the pre-eminent sprinter in the division early in the year, raced in mid-pack before trying to make a move on the outside.  He faded badly and finished last.  The winner returned $4.10, $2.90, and $2.30.  The exacta paid $29.80 and the trifecta $276.00. The superfecta paid $1,127.

Discreetly Mine, a son of Mineshaft, is trained by Todd Pletcher and he picked up his fifth win in 13 lifetime starts.

“Any time you go 21, 44 and change for seven eighths, that’s pretty demanding. We were happy to hold on. We basically felt like we had to (go for the lead) the way the track was playing. We’d be inclined to train up to the Breeders’ Cup. Twenty-six days (since winning the Grade 2 Amsterdam), 123 pounds – he’s spotting everyone but D’ Funnybone significant weight, but he was gutsy enough to get it done,” Pletcher said.