In a modest way, from 2001 through 2005 Discreet Hero was one of racing’s stars. He won only one graded stakes, the 2001 Round Table (G3) at Arlington, but he ran creditable efforts against such as Orientate, Brass Hat and Mineshaft, and for five years he traveled from Kentucky to Louisiana to Chicago gathering an impressive array of listed stakes wins. I remember him on TVG, a small but determined horse who liked to be up close and even as his career closed would duel to the finish with all he had. His name suited him perfectly.

He ran his last race in December 2005. What happened between then and January 2011 when he came to live with us? I don’t know, but some of it wasn’t good. He had lost his trust in people, and he bore marks that hinted at why. But he moved in with his new paddock mates with a spunky insistence on being a respected member of the gang, and they accepted him quickly. He’d found his home.

It took no time at all for Discreet Hero to become a herd leader. Herd leaders are rarely angels, and when Hero ruled the gang in paddock 32 he encouraged their playful good times a bit far—picking on A. P. Slew was too easy to call sporting behavior—but he had a talent for getting along with other horses and he clearly had the affection of most of his companions. With people, Hero was shy at first, tending to draw back unless the hand reaching out to him held a carrot, but as time went on and his sense of security strengthened, it was a joy to watch him regain trust and happily move forward to be gently rubbed, scratched or caressed. When it was time for a hoof trim or the like he remained reluctant to be caught. He was always his own horse. But to those of us who’d known him a while it was wonderful to hang out with him and see that he was enjoying it.

Hero’s best times of all were with his horse friends, and some years ago he found the one who’d be his close companion for the rest of his life, Cappucino Kid. When Hero settled into a mellower middle age and moved into a quieter herd, there was Cappy. The two of them bonded almost instantly. Interestingly, they had in common that Cappy had also known some rough times before reaching Old Friends. But where Hero was socially ept, Cappy isn’t. Hero didn’t care. He took wholeheartedly to Cappy.

The two grazed together, napped together, and no matter who else was in the herd, stuck with each other through thick and thin. They had a friendly mutual tolerance going with Riversrunrylee and Padua’s Pride. When those two moved to Ashton Grove and The Pizza Man and Work All Week moved in, it took a few months for Hero and Cappy to decide these racing celebrities—mere kids, at that—passed muster with the two of them, but at last they did, and the two pairs of friends became four good friends.

I’m glad Cappy is among friends because he misses Hero. I wish that, instead of me, Cappy could have written his recollections of Hero. Discreet Hero’s human friends saw and loved the grit, good horse sense, and spirited beauty that was in him. If Cappy could speak, he would be able to tell us worlds more.

All who knew Hero, horses and humans, miss him and always will.
Beth

History:
From 2001 through 2005, Discreet Hero competed in 49 races, 31 of them stakes. He won the Alydar S and Round Table (G3) at Arlington in 2001, earned stakes seconds and thirds in 2002 and 2003, and again achieved stakes victories in 2004 in the Mountaineer Mile, and the Prairie Bayou at Turfway.

In 2005 he captured the Tejano Run S at Turfway, as well as the Slipton Fell H and Fall H at Mountaineer. Discreet Hero earned his third consecutive victory and fourth in seven career starts – all this year – in the $125,000 Round Table Stakes (gr. III) for 3-year-olds. The son of Honour and Glory completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.73 on a fast track to earn the 1 1/4-length win.

Jockey Shane Laviolette remarked, “He was sitting comfortably and when I asked him, he made a great move.” That‘s how the Blood-Horse online recognized the up-and-coming Hero in July 2001.

The notice was well-deserved. In all, Hero competed at stakes level for an impressive five successful years, earning $681,591.

At Old Friends, he does join old friends—Discreet Hero once raced against fellow residents Bonapaw and Danthebluegrassman, as well as Balto Star, one of Glitterman‘s best sons, and Just Like Jimmy, one of The Name‘s Jimmy‘s. We feel honored to give this outstanding athlete the dignified retirement he has earned. He is, indeed, a real Hero.

From 2001 through 2005, Discreet Hero competed in 49 races, 31 of them stakes. He won the Alydar S and Round Table (G3) at Arlington in 2001, earned stakes seconds and thirds in 2002 and 2003, and again achieved stakes victories in 2004 in the Mountaineer Mile, and the Prairie Bayou at Turfway.

In 2005 he captured the Tejano Run S at Turfway, as well as the Slipton Fell H and Fall H at Mountaineer. Discreet Hero earned his third consecutive victory and fourth in seven career starts – all this year – in the $125,000 Round Table Stakes (gr. III) for 3-year-olds. The son of Honour and Glory completed the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.73 on a fast track to earn the 1 1/4-length win.

Jockey Shane Laviolette remarked, “He was sitting comfortably and when I asked him, he made a great move.” That‘s how the Blood-Horse online recognized the up-and-coming Hero in July 2001.

The notice was well-deserved. In all, Hero competed at stakes level for an impressive five successful years, earning $681,591.

At Old Friends, he does join old friends—Discreet Hero once raced against fellow residents Bonapaw and Danthebluegrassman, as well as Balto Star, one of Glitterman‘s best sons, and Just Like Jimmy, one of The Name‘s Jimmy‘s. We feel honored to give this outstanding athlete the dignified retirement he has earned. He is, indeed, a real Hero.