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Derby News
By: Caton Bredar Tampa, FL (March 18, 2006) - On a day where favorites failed in three of four Kentucky Derby prep races, the Tampa Bay Derby fit in right with the rest of the national scene. Favored Bluegrass Cat could do no better than second in the grade III, $250,000 event as eight to one shot Deputy Glitters turned the tables and registered his first graded stakes win and only the second win of his career. Trained by Tom Albertrani, a former assistant to Hall of Famer Bill Mott during the days of Horse of the Year Cigar, Deputy Glitters sat in second almost from gate to the point it mattered most, taking the lead at the finish to draw off to a comfortable two length score under jockey Jose Lezcano. Favored Bluegrass Cat, off the pace early, was second, over three lengths in front of longshot Winnies Tigger Too in third. Winnies Tigger Too, a locally-based horse, actually took command from the gate and appeared to coast through opening fractions of :24-1/5 for the quarter, :49-1/5 for the half and 1:13-2/5 for three-quarters of a mile. Still in contention at the top of the stretch, the 65 to 1 shot began to tire slightly, and was was eventually swallowed up by the first two finishers, who rallied on the outside. Final time for the mile and one sixteenth was 1:44.26 just over a second slower than the track record. Bred in Kentucky by his owner, Joseph Lacombe, Deputy Glitters is a son of Deputy Commander, out of the Glitterman mare Glitters. LaCombe himself has experience with good horses; he raced 2-year-old Champion and Horse of the Year Favorite Trick. The race served as a table-turner for Deputy Glitters, who had finished second to Bluegrass Cat in the prep for this race, the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay back on February 18. That time around, the colt was making his debut around two turns and pressed the pace a bit more in the early stages, ultimately settling for second, a length and a quarter behind the winner. Prior to the Tampa Bay Derby, Deputy Glitters had won just one other race, breaking his maiden in his career debut, a $65,000 maiden claiming race at Saratoga last September for trainer Eddie Kenneally. He was subsequently moved to Albertrani's barn, for whom he went winless in his next four next starts. In only the second start of his career, the bay colt faltered badly in the grade I Champagne, and he followed it up with a fourth place finish in the Huntington Stakes at Aqueduct, his last start of last year. This year, he debuted at Gulfstream in a one-turn, one mile allowance, finishing fifth. From there, the Sam Davis appeared to set him up perfectly for the biggest win of his career. Deputy Glitters picked up $150,000 for the win to boost his bankroll to just over $200,000. If his connections want to see him in Louisville come Derby Day, he will, in all likelihood, have to run again, most likely in Kentucky or back in New York in the Wood Memorial, where Albertrani is based. Bluegrass Cat, meanwhile, the favorite, appeared to have few excuses and snapped a four-race win streak dating back to September of last year. Fourth in the early going about three lengths off the pace, he appeared to struggle with both the footing and the dirt kicking back in his face. Still, the WinStar Farm runner boosted his career earnings to almost $325,000 with the runner-up's share of the purse. With four wins and a second now in six starts, the Todd Pletcher runner is likely still headed for Kentucky. Deputy Glitters returned $18.80 for the victory, $3.40 to place and $2.10 to show. Bluegrass Cat paid $2.20 and $2.10, and longshot Winnies Tigger Too returned $2.10.
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