Grade 1 and multiple graded stakes winner Discreet Lover has been retired from racing to stand at Kerry and Leigh Ann Hopper's R Star Stallions near Anderson, Ind. He will stand for $2,000, with special considerations for approved mares.
"Discreet Lover ran in 17 graded stakes and 17 other stakes during his career, so he went up against the best of the best, and he proved himself to be a hard-trying and talented horse over his long career," said Kerry Hopper. "He was precocious enough to win as a 2-year-old and even though most of his wins were going a route of ground, he also showed the ability to sprint when he had the chance, so we think he's going to be a versatile stallion and a good fit for the lucrative Indiana breeding program."
The 8-year-old son of Repent proved his talent and durability over a racing career spanning 49 starts. He became a stakes-placed winner at 2 and at 3 won or placed seven times out of 14 starts, with placed finishes in the Ohio Derby, Parx Derby, and Richard W. Small Stakes. Discreet Lover improved with age and at 5 developed into one of the nation's top older horses. He won the Excelsior Stakes (G3) in his second start of 2018 and went on to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), in which he defeated Mendelssohn , Diversify, Gronkowski, and the two-time Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline winner Thunder Snow. He also finished third that year in the Whitney Stakes (G1) and Suburban Stakes (G2).
Discreet Lover retired with a 7-7-7 record and earnings of $1,452,735.
Bred in Florida by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Discreet Lover is out of the Discreet Cat mare Discreet Chat, who is a half sister to millionaire, multiple graded stakes winner, and Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Desert Code (by E Dubai). Discreet Chat also is a half sibling to stakes winners Soul Onarazorsedge (Carson City) and Forest Code (Forestry) and stakes-placed, stakes producer Wasted Wisdom (Gold Fever).
Repent, a son of Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Louis Quatorze, was a two-time grade 2 winner that was runner-up in grade 1 stakes at 2 and 3, when he finished second in the 2001 Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and 2002 Travers Stakes (G1), respectively. To date, he's sired 24 black-type winners, which include seven graded/group winners and a champion. Discreet Lover is Repent's chief earner.
