by NICK FORTUNA,
Wire to Wire

Brent Fernung got a firsthand look at Deputy Glitters’ racing ability at the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs in 2006, when the horse defeated Grade 1 winner and 2-5 favorite Bluegrass Cat by two lengths. Fernung, who was managing the now-defunct CloverLeaf Farms II operation at the time, saw Deputy Glitters beat one of his farm’s horses, El Lobo, to earn one of the biggest victories of his career.

Now, Fernung stands to benefit from Deputy Glitters’ talent instead of trying to compete against it. The horse will begin his career as a stallion at Fernung’s Journeyman Stud in Ocala with a $2,500 stud fee for the upcoming breeding season.

Fernung said local breeders will be getting a bargain in Deputy Glitters because of his proven speed and ability in two-turn races.

“I think he offers a lot of value,” Fernung said. “Usually, the $2,500 horses down here are some well-bred horses that couldn’t outrun me, and here’s a horse that was a legitimately good racehorse. And the stallions that have done well in Florida have usually been horses with a little bit more of a blue-collar pedigree that were good racehorses, and I think this horse kind of fits that category.”

Deputy Glitters won three of his 17 career starts for $426,695. As a 3-year-old, he ran second to Bluegrass Cat in the 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs before avenging that loss at the same distance in the Tampa Bay Derby. Deputy Glitters ran in most of the big races for 3-year-olds in 2006, making Grade 1 starts in the Wood Memorial, Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Haskell Invitational.

But the biggest day of Deputy Glitters’ racing career came at Thistledown that year, when he registered a 105 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the nine-furlong Ohio Derby (G2).

Though Deputy Glitters was at his best in longer races, Fernung said breeders should remember that he also showed speed as a juvenile, breaking his maiden by 13 ¾ lengths in a six-furlong race at Saratoga and recording a 92 Beyer.

“He’s kind of got the best of both worlds,” Fernung said. “He was a good 2-year-old. When you break your maiden that way, it shows a ton of ability. He had the precociousness to be a good 2-year-old and win at Saratoga in dominating fashion, and he was also a top 3-year-old. There weren’t very many better than him.”

Deputy Glitters’ got his routing ability from his sire, Deputy Commander, who earned $1.91 million at the racetrack and earned Grade 1 victories in the Travers Stakes and the Super Derby, covering 1 ¼ miles in each of those races. The 5-year-old colt is out of the Glitterman mare Glitters, who had five wins from ages 2 to 4 and earned $242,289.

Fernung said those two families blended nicely to make Deputy Glitters a well-rounded runner.

“He’s got Deputy Commander on the top, and he was a really significant, two-turn horse,” Fernung said. “Deputy Commander was a good racehorse. He didn’t have a lot of speed, but this horse here has kind of combined that with his female family to be fast early and then carry it on, so I think there are two dimensions to this horse. He’s out of a Glitterman mare, and Glitterman has really made a mark as a broodmare sire. Horses from that family tend to be fast and precocious, and Deputy Glitters was both.”

Because of that combination, Fernung said he thinks Deputy Glitters will sire 2-year-old winners in addition to runners who can stretch out to compete in the Classic races.

“I would think that they would probably get better as they get older,” Fernung said. “With that influence from that Glitterman side of the family, I wouldn’t be surprised if they win early as 2-year-olds because obviously he was capable of it. You can see them being good 3-year-olds but capable of winning as 2-year-olds.

“Physically, he’s got strong hindquarters on him. Across the top, he looks like a two-turn horse. He’s pretty much dead correct and has a good head on him.”

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