NEWS
Brother Derek retired, headed to Airdrie
Posted: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 2:39 PM
BROTHER DEREK
Benoit & Associates photo
Multiple Grade 1 winner Brother Derek has been retired, and he will begin his stallion career in 2009 at the Jones family’s Airdrie Stud in Midway, Kentucky.
A stud fee has not been announced for the five-year-old Benchmark horse.
Brother Derek won the Hollywood Futurity (G1) and Norfolk Stakes (G2) as a two-year-old and stamped himself as one of the favorites for the 2006 Triple Crown after notching consecutive victories in the San Rafael Stakes (G2), Santa Catalina Stakes (G2), and Santa Anita Derby (G1).
Trained by Dan Hendricks for owner Cecil Peacock, Brother Derek finished fourth in both the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1). That fall, he finished second to multiple Grade 1 winner Lava Man in the Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap (G2) and fifth to eventual Horse of the Year Invasor (Arg) in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1).
After missing more than a year following ankle surgery, Brother Derek finished second to eventual Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap (G1) winner Mast Track in a one-mile allowance race on April 20 at Santa Anita in his only start this year.
Mary Caldwell bred Brother Derek out of her unraced Siyah Kalem mare Miss Soft Sell on a free season to Benchmark, and the breeding paid dividends when Brother Derek sold for $150,000 at the 2004 Keeneland September yearling sale. Six months later, Hendricks, as agent for Peacock, bought Brother Derek for $275,000 at the 2005 Barretts March sale of selected two-year-olds in training. Brother Derek went on to win six of 17 starts and earn $1,611,138. His full brother is Don’tsellmeshort, a multiple stakes winner as a two-year-old.
“Our single most important criteria for selecting our stallions is brilliance, and Brother Derek had brilliance in spades,” Airdrie’s Bret Jones said. “To be able to come through a two-year-old sale after going :20 4/5 [in a breeze show], break his maiden that May going 4 ½ furlongs, win a Grade 1 at the end of his two-year-old year, and then train on to dominate the Santa Anita Derby going a mile and an eighth shows the brilliance, versatility, and true toughness that we believe will ultimately lead to his great success at stud. He's also an outstanding individual that the commercial breeder can really get excited about.”
Brother Derek will stand alongside a former rival, Stevie Wonderboy, at Airdrie.
Brother Derek finished fourth to Stevie Wonderboy in the 2005 Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and turned the tables in the San Rafael with a victory over the champion two-year-old male. Stevie Wonderboy stood his first season in 2008.
