Racing: Irish Fling in hot form

Irish Fling, owned by Guy Lowry.

It's hard to find words that can do justice to how far Hawke's Bay's Telegraph Handicap heroine, Irish Fling, has come in such a short space of time.

From lowly midweek Taupo race meetings in the spring, the Darci Brahma mare has soared to the top echelon of New Zealand racing. On Saturday she joined the Telegraph Handicap honour roll. But where words fall short, statistics can paint a clearer picture. So let's look back at Telegraph winners since 2006, and how their career records looked at the start of their Telegraph-winning season.

2006 Telegraph winner Gee I Jane had won four of her 13 starts, banked over $164,000 in stakes, and had a rating of 102.

Darci Brahma was already a multiple Group 1 winner at the start of the 2006-07 season. He had won eight of his 14 starts and over $939,000 in prize money, and his rating was 103.

Superstar Seachange - who delivered so many unforgettable performances at the Hastings spring carnival during her wonderful career - had a record of 16 starts for nine wins at the start of the 2007-08 season. She'd won $877,000, and her rating was 109.

Mufhasa didn't really come of age until the 2008-09 season, in which his winning spree earned him the Horse of the Year award. But he still started the season with five wins, $120,000 and a rating of 88 to his credit.

Upset 2010 Telegraph winner Vonusti began the season as a six-race winner, with $78,000 and a rating of 90.

The second time around, Mufhasa's figures had grown exponentially - 36 starts for 12 wins, $1.4 million and a rating of 109.

2012 winner Guiseppina had the lowest prize money of this bunch, with $40,163, but she was a four-race winner with a stakes win to her name, and her rating was 97.

And Final Touch had put together a stellar record in the South Island - 10 wins from 28 starts, $164,100 and a rating of 101 - as she embarked on her unforgettable North Island tour de force of 2012-13.

And so we come to Hawke's Bay's Irish Fling. At the start of this season, she'd had nine starts for one win and three placings. She'd banked $13,000, and her rating was 65. Since then she's had six starts for four wins, a third and a fourth, earning $197,375 and sending her rating skyrocketing into triple figures.

Maybe that can go some way to explaining the delirium, delight and disbelief shown by the Pak'nSave Syndicate after their pride and joy won New Zealand's greatest sprint handicap on Saturday. No one could have seen this coming. The history of racing is full of stars that have suddenly exploded out of nowhere and taken everyone by surprise, but in the years to come Irish Fling may be remembered as one of the most astonishing examples of all.