A Partnership Made in Keeneland

Airdrie Stud's Bret Jones, shopping for a filly for a racing partnership, had his eye on a filly by Discreet Cat at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2014.

“I had liked her very much when I saw her at [breeder] Adena Springs and we vetted her and I went to the back ring at Keeneland to look at her,” Jones recalled Thursday, shortly after the daughter of graded stakes winner Position Limit (Bellamy Road) romped home in her debut at Fair Grounds.

Jones quickly realized he wasn't the only one interested in the bay filly.

“I saw my brother-in-law Gatewood Bell [of Cromwell Bloodstock Agency] was also staring her down,” Jones said. “And I know that look that Gatewood gets, so I walked over to him and asked him if he happened to be looking at a Discreet Cat filly and he said he was. We decided right there to go partners on her. So he bought her for his clients and we put a partnership together.”

The parternship, which includes Bell's longtime client and former Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker, secured the filly for $37,000.

The team had high expectations for Limitless's first start Thursday in New Orleans.

“[Trainer] Larry Jones had been very high on her and Larry is very rarely, if ever, wrong,” Jones said. “So we were very excited to see how she would go. We weren't quite as excited about drawing the one hole, but the way the race shaped up, it couldn't have played out better. Thankfully [jockey] Florent Geroux was able to get her out and get her on the lead and didn't have to look back too much.”

Watching the race from his Lexington home, Jones did admit to some anxious moments when the filly blasted out to the early lead.

“All of us watching were saying in unison, 'Talk to her Florent, slow her down a little bit,'” Jones said. “But then she got into her stride and looked like she relaxed for him and she obviously had plenty left.”

As for where Limitless might start next, Jones said, “Wherever Larry thinks she needs to go.”