Why Discreet Cat and not Bernardini?

[Betsy]

I've always been confident that the Sheikh would run Bernardini next year, but Dan Illman's comments in his DRF blog got me thinking. He's assuming Bernardini will retire after this year and DC will be the Sheikhs' big horse next year (the Dubai World Cup and beyond). I'm not sure what he's basing that on, but various message boards are afire with the assumption that DC will run next year and Bernardini won't....or might not. Would the only reason for this be the fact that Bernardini would command a sizable stud fee next year whereas DC would still need to do some more on the racetrack? That the Sheikh would feel that Bernardini has nothing to gain (though this does not sound like the attitude of a sportsman, which we know he is)? If not, I can't think of any reason why Discreet Cat would race next year and not Bernardini, especially since the latter is a homebred and the Sheikh seems particularly proud of him. He's certainly getting a big kick following his races from Dubai.........