The Deputy Lays Down the Law

Team Valor, which had its Captain Bodgit miss winning by a head against Silver Charm in the 1997 Kentucky Derby, is back for more this year, and first returns are promising.

Barry Irwin’s Pasadena-based outfit bought The Deputy in England in October, and in the colt’s first dirt start Sunday he not only won the $107,300 Santa Catalina Stakes, but also defeated Captain Steve, who was one of the early favorites for this year’s Derby.

Captain Steve, the 1-2 favorite, had won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs and the Hollywood Futurity in his last two starts. Under Jerry Bailey, he was a dull third in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Catalina, losing by 6 1/2 lengths. High Yield, whose losing streak was extended to five races, was unable to overtake The Deputy in the stretch and lost by a length.

“Those horses ran the races of their lives,” said Bob Baffert, who trains Captain Steve. “I was hoping for an easy spot, but I didn’t get it. There are no easy spots. Because of the rain, I wasn’t able to do much with my horse. He just didn’t kick in. I might go out of town with him, maybe to the Louisiana Derby.”

The Deputy, an Irish-bred colt who won one of five starts as a 2-year-old in England, was syndicated for $500,000. Irwin and his partners own half and the other half belongs to Gary Barber, a film producer whose company made “The Sixth Sense.”

In his first race for trainer Jenine Sahadi, The Deputy won at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Jan. 2. Chris McCarron rode him then and on Sunday. Posting a time of 1:43, the colt paid $11.80 to win and earned $64,380.

“The horse had worked well on the dirt,” Sahadi said, “but until they actually run in a race, you just don’t know. We were basically forced to run in this race, because there was nowhere else and I didn’t want to ship. I don’t know where we’ll go from here.”

Notes

Trainer Nick Zito will hook up again with Corey Nakatani, who has been named to ride Greenwood Lake in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 19. Nakatani, the leading rider at Santa Anita in wins and No. 1 nationally in purse money earned, has been drafted by Zito before, winning the 1998 Champagne with The Groom Is Red before they finished seventh in the Florida Derby. In 1998, Nakatani finished fourth with Zito’s Halory Hunter in the Kentucky Derby. Jean Luc-Samyn had been riding Greenwood Lake, who won last year’s Champagne but finished sixth in the Holy Bull Stakes, which was his 3-year-old debut. “This [change] isn’t due to anything [Luc-Samyn] did wrong,” Zito said. “He’s a top rider, but we had a chance to obtain the services of one of America’s premier riders.” . . . Jockey Chris Antley’s return has been delayed while he undergoes more knee surgery. He has been sidelined for three months. . . . Miss Inquisitive, a 91-1 shot, outfinished the 7-10 Swept Away by a neck to win the $75,000 Forward Gal Stakes at Gulfstream.