Jerkens excited about Iron Deputy

NEW YORK - Obscured by the smashing victory in the $350,000 Cigar Mile and some of the other results of last weekend's Holidayfest, the strong performance of Iron Deputy in Aqueduct's $82,500 Huntington Stakes for 2-year-olds was greeted with indifference. But the Silver Deputy colt, accelerating smoothly through the stretch, won by four authoritative lengths and may have a future.

Iron Deputy, owned by John and Susan Moore of Far Hills, N.J., has won two of his three starts and might have been undefeated but for a surge in his first race that was perhaps a trifle premature. He was beaten a head in a game effort, came back a month later to win his maiden decisively, and showed continued improvement in capturing the Huntington.

Permitted to settle in stride at the start by Richard Migliore, Iron Deputy rallied on the turn and closed strongly though the stretch as if much the best. The runner-up, Volley Ball, came into the Huntington undefeated and a winner of a restricted stakes in his last start.

"I like the way he finished," trainer Jimmy Jerkens said, "and I like the way he improved from race to race. But you don't want to get too far ahead of yourself. It is natural to assume that a horse with his style will go a distance of ground. Some of them, however, turn out to be come-from-behind sprinters.

"He is a well-balanced individual with a nice shoulder," Jerkens said. "Our stable will stay in New York as usual this winter and I will try to stretch him out. They tell me that the pedigree on the dam's side is strong on stamina and that is encouraging."

As a son of Allen Jerkens, one the nation's greatest trainers, Jerkens had a thorough preparation for his life's work. Since leaving as his father's assistant in the fall of 1997 and forming his own stable, he has done well and has earned his own reputation foe devotion to his horses. His work with Thomas Jo earned him considerable praise. Thomas Jo won several stakes in Maryland at the start of his 3-year-old campaign and then, at 28-1, finished third in the Belmont Stakes.

Iron Deputy was purchased at the Fasig-Tipton Sales in Kentucky as a yearling for $45,000. The Moores have raced a small stable for some time, principally in New Jersey. An attorney by profession, John Moore is now on Wall Street in financial services. Susan Moore is an enthusiastic horsewoman and shares in the operation of the stable. They have upgraded the quality of their stock and are looking forward to new horizons with Iron Deputy.

Rahy moves up in stallion standings

With a sensational boost from Fantastic Light, who concluded his career with an internationally acclaimed victory in the recent Breeders' Cup Turf, Rahy, one of the stallion stars at Kentucky's Three Chimneys Farm, has powered his way into second place in the general sires standings for 2001, behind the leader, Thunder Gulch. Rahy will stand for $100,000 live foal in 2002, up $25,000 from this year's fee.

"Rahy's been a sire of quality horses from the outset," president Dan Rosenberg of Three Chimneys commented. "His first crop included the champion filly Serena's Song. In the interim, Rahy has had such good ones as Hawksley Hill, a winner of more than $1.5 million, and Tranquility Lake, the Yellow Ribbon winner, Exotic Wood, Mariah's Storm, and many other outstanding horses."

Racing for Sheikh Maktoum, Rahy was a stakes winner in England and the United States. His pedigree is outstanding. He is by Blushing Groom, a champion in France at 2 and 3. He is out of Glorious Song, a stakes winner of more than $1 million and the Canadian Horse of the Year.

"His horses have done well on both sides of the Atlantic," Rosenberg commented. "He gets top fillies and colts who run well on grass and dirt. He covered 101 mares last year and he'll have a full book again for next season."