Cox stablemates meet as top two choices

Discreet Mischief lost the 13th race on Derby Day at Churchill Downs about 9 1/2 hours after his Brad Cox-trained stablemate Pure Force won the lid-lifter. The two colts come together Wednesday at Churchill in race 7, which very likely will turn into an intramural affair.

While Discreet Mischief ran at the end of the May 4 card, he’ll be first loaded into post 1 Wednesday, when scorching conditions are expected to prevail in Louisville. Drawn outside in a field of seven is Pure Force, the 9-5 second choice behind 7-5 favorite Discreet Mischief in a seven-furlong contest open to 3-year-old first-level allowance horses or $100,000 claimers.

Discreet Mischief comes out of a far stronger race and has run faster than Pure Force. However, Pure Force debuted May 4 and has the greater upside.

Despite running Beyer Speed Figures of 93, 92, and 89, Discreet Mischief has started his career winning once. He debuted Feb. 17 finishing second behind Drip, among the fastest maidens of the Fair Grounds meet, and in April at Keeneland the colt was pounds the best winning a seven-furlong maiden by 8 1/4 lengths.

Discreet Mischief also had the rail May 1, breaking outward and forcing jockey Florent Geroux to take up and steer left. Inside and behind horses, Discreet Mischief moved up into contention while becoming slightly rank going to the half-mile pole, and after coming off the fence at the quarter pole, Discreet Mischief looked like he’d make a run at pacesetting Raging Torrent. He did not.

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Raging Torrent ran wild to the wire winning by more than eight and posting a massive 104 Beyer, while Discreet Mischief held second by a neck over Jefferson Street. That horse returned with a recent Saratoga sprint allowance victory that yielded a 102 Beyer, while fourth-place Yellow Card notched a sharp turf-sprint allowance score this past weekend at Churchill.

Geroux retains the mount on Discreet Mischief while Axel Concepcion takes over from Geroux on Pure Force, who broke from post 2, contested a solid pace, and won a 6 1/2-furlong maiden by 2 1/4 lengths with an 85 Beyer.

Encouragingly, the best part of Discreet Mischief’s performance came through his final furlong, where the Juddmonte Farms homebred rolled past the finish and galloped out like a horse looking for more ground. The added half-furlong Wednesday helps him. The presence of his fast barnmate does not.

◗ Webslinger ended a seven-race losing streak with a rallying win over Sugoi on Saturday night in the Chorleywood Overnight Stakes. Going 1 3/8 miles, the farthest he’s run, Webslinger matched his career-best Beyer with a 98 and could be headed to the Grade 1 United Nations over the same distance July 22 at Monmouth Park, trainer Mark Casse said.

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