Luck O’The Irish: Deputy Paunci Prevails for Ireland Residency

Sometimes, the game just won’t let them go: Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls came back from retirement.  Brett Farve of the Green Bay Packers defies father time year after year, playing on as his contemporaries retreat to the safety of their couches to watch the last warrior playing against men 20 years his junior each week, as late-season surges by the Pack inspire Farve to try just one more time to tie down an elusive last Super Bowl.  So it is, then, with Deputy Paunchi.  In the words of her trainer, Larry (a.k.a techranger/irehold) “This was to be her last hurrah, one more run before the breeding shed.”  And who could blame him?  A Deputy Minister x Secretariat mare is worth her weight in gold, and Deputy Paunchi seemed to  struggle to rise out of the allowance ranks.

Enter the Three Smokestacks Stakes: G1, 9 furlongs, facing the last two winners of this prestigious race.  Obviously, Deputy Paunchi had talent, but she had never duplicated her best form in stakes company: her best lifetime showing when racing up from allowance company was a 2^nd in her last out.  The attention was focused squarely on English Bark and Dangerous Reward, who were making one last attempt at showing that they really did belong in the Breeders’ Bowl Distaff.  Larry was looking for some magic, and the horse that he trains for the entire Ireland residency, and entered in this race at their urging, would need some to threaten this field.

Reaching way back into the realms of superstition, folklore, and good old-fashioned Luck O’The Irish, the Ireland contingent here in Kentucky for the race spent the morning on their hands and knees in every patch of grass and clover they could find: sure, their suits wound up grass-stained and their shirts wound up wrinkled, but by the time Deputy Paunchi went to post, she had no fewer than 10 four-leaf clovers tucked under the saddle pad.  Whether it was the four-leaf clovers in the saddle pad or not, the muscular brown mare needed just 1:48 2/5 to send a country into euphoria: moving to the lead with three furlongs left, it was apparent by the time the field turned for home that even the potent late run of favored Dangerous  Reward was going to fall short: Deputy Paunchi cruised home a winner by 1 ¾ lengths, and all those grass stains on their knees and elbows are now preserved for posterity in what may rank as one of the more comical winners’ circle pictures of all time.

For trainer Larry, the win was twice as sweet: As one of the game’s most active contributors, he’s a familiar face, but one that’s rarely seen traveling among the elite.  A down to earth, friendly sort, he’s borne his struggles with a smile, occasionally voicing his disappointment at having won so few top races in his six years in the game, then going out and breeding another baby on whom to pin his hopes.  His fortunes turned here: Deputy Paunchi is only is 2^nd G1 winner in six year, but you can bet that it will be remembered in the Ireland Residency for years to come.  As one might expect, the win has also breathed new life into Deputy Paunchi’s career: “I plan to keep racing her for some time before she is sent to the breeding shed…she will continue to run and remain as a source of pride for all Ireland residents as long as she can run [at a similar level].”

As was mentioned earlier, Dangerous Reward followed Deputy Paunchi home, and should her condition permit it, she’s secured a spot in the Breeders’ Bowl field.  No comment was available on how she returned from the race, so while it must be assumed that a Breeders’ Bowl try is a longshot, its not entirely out of the question.  50-1 shot See Jay Tee, who I summarily dismissed in my preview, outran her odds and her past performances to log a strong 3^rd.