Brother Derek - 2006 Santa Anita Derby Winner

Brother Derek

Breeding: Benchmark - Miss Soft (Siyah Kalem)

Owner: Cecil N. Peacock

Trainer: Dan Hendricks

Brother Derek Wins Santa Anita Derby

The heavily backed Brother Derek heads for next month's Run for the Roses as the likely favorite after he ran as expected in an easy gate-to-wire victory Saturday in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (gr. I).
Running the 1 1/8-mile distance for the first time, Brother Derek got a shake of the reins from jockey Alex Solis coming off the far turn and the son of Benchmark left his challenger A.P. Warrior behind in the stretch. He won by 3 1/4 lengths in a time of 1:48, handing his wheelchair-bound trainer Dan Hendricks his first victory in the West Coast's most prestigious race for 3-year-olds.

Point Determined finished well for Rafael Bejarano to take the runner-up spot over A.P. Warrior.

Brother Derek, who went over the $1 million in career earnings, came home in :36 4/5 for the final three furlongs after completing the opening quarter-mile in :23 3/5, the half in :47 2/5 and six furlongs in 1:11 1/5.

He broke best of the five horses left in the field after the scratch of Indy Wildcat and opened up a two-length advantage on the clubhouse turn as Corey Nakatani, aboard A.P. Warrior, took back. Point Determined chased the first two from the outset. Sacred Light, runner-up to Brother Derek in the Santa Catalina (gr. II) a month ago at Santa Anita, stumbled badly at the start and lost all chance for Aaron Gryder.

Brother Derek led by 3 1/2 lengths on the backstretch as A.P. Warrior and Point Determined began to close in as they rounded the far turn. But Solis gave Brother Derek a reminder at the three-sixteenths pole and the dark bay responded with a game run through the lane under a long hold.

"He felt so fantastic," Solis said. "He came out like a cat. I let him run a little bit more (through the stretch) just to get him ready for his next race. When he switched leads at the eighth pole he really found another gear."

Brother Derek won his fourth straight race for Hendricks, improved to four-for-four at Santa Anita and remained undefeated in four lifetime starts around two turns. Questions remain, however, about the quality of the fields of he has faced in California, and how he'll respond to the pace challenge and the 20-horse field he'll face in the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum Brands! (gr. I) on May 6.

He would be the first California-bred to be favored in the Derby since Snow Chief in 1986. Three horses bred in the Golden State have won it – Morvich, Swaps and Decidedly.

Brother Derek won for the sixth time in eight starts with earnings of $1,162,080 for owner Cecil Peacock. The colt was a $275,000 Barretts buy in March 2005.

He paid $3, $2.40 and $2.10. Point determined, who was also second in the San Felipe, returned $2.80 and $2.10. A.P. Warrior was $2.10 to show.

Sacred Light was fourth. Wildfang trailed.