Kentucky Derby beckons for The Deputy

By John Manley

John McEnery can’t compare the feeling of being associated with an Aintree Grand National winner to that of a Kentucky Derby champion. Well, not yet. But that could all change Saturday afternoon.

McEnery bred The Deputy, the likely second choice in this year’s Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. His father, Martyn, bred Red Rum,

three-time winner at Aintree in the 1970s. Both horses were foaled at the family’s Rossenarra Stud in Kells, Co. Kilkenny.

The Deputy stamped himself as Derby material when he won the Santa Catalina Stakes at Santa Anita earlier this year. A second-place finish to Fusaichi Pegasus (the probable Derby favorite) in the San Felipe Stakes followed.

Most recently, The Deputy posted a hard-fought victory over War Chant in the Santa Anita Derby, a race that has figured large in pointing out top contenders for Churchill.

Last year, The Deputy raced five times in England, breaking his maiden and hitting the board in two other events. He was sold late in the year to the partnership of Gary Barber and the Team Valor Syndicate, which shipped him to California and the barn of Jenine Sahadi.

Pundits accord him a legitimate chance of becoming the first Irish-bred to wear the blanket of roses at Churchill. He has a pliable running style, being able to attend the early pace or to take back and await Chris McCarron’s urging in the saddle. In his last two efforts, he battled the

length of the stretch, drawing away late from War Chant, and not quite getting to Fusaichi Pegasus. It should be noted that Fusaichi Pegasus benefited from a six-pound weight advantage that day. All horses will carry 126 pounds on Saturday.

McCarron, raised in Dorchester, Mass., will be seeking the third Derby win of his storied career.

McEnery, a third-generation horseman, breeds for the market, although he will race an occasional filly that he would like to add to his broodmare band down the road.

He bought Manfath, The Deputy’s dam, out of a sale several years ago based on her conformation, a trait she has passed on to her son. The mare was winless on the racecourse. Bred to Petardia, an undistinguished stallion with four crops now to the races, Manfath dropped a colt that caught McEnery’s eye as he cantered around his paddock.

"I always remarked to a few of my friends and the man that owns the stallion that I thought I had a very nice horse," McEnery said. "He always looked very smart and had a great presence."

McEnery had The Deputy until September of his yearling year, when he sold the colt in a private deal.

McEnery will be in the shadow of the twin spires on Saturday, anticipating a victory that would give rise to endless queries seeking comparisons between The Deputy and Red Rum, a tough but pleasant task.