NEWS
Triple Crown trail: Hendricks confident Brother Derek is fresh, improving
Posted: Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Brother Derek has been in training for more than a year with a steady workload that has produced four graded stakes wins and a spot among the top contenders for the Triple Crown.
Trainer Dan Hendricks is convinced the colt can continue to improve in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on Saturday on the way to the Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 6.
"He's been in training for a while, but he hasn't had a lot of races and he hasn't had a lot of works in between races," Hendricks said. "That's been the design: to have a fresh two-year-old at the end of the year, and we were just lucky enough to be good enough to go onward with this program to the Triple Crown with a horse that I believe is fresh with seven races and a minimal amount of works."
Hendricks, who has never started a horse in the Triple Crown and had just one Grade 1 win before Brother Derek's victory in the Hollywood Futurity (G1), joked on Tuesday that he got into this position through dumb luck rather than a precise plan.
After Brother Derek won the Norfolk Stakes (G2) on October 2 at Santa Anita Park, Hendricks and owner Cecil Peacock initially focused on a short-term schedule of running the colt in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and either the Hollywood Futurity or Delta Jackpot Stakes, a $1-million race that Delta Downs ended up canceling due to damage from Hurricane Rita.
"Well, the Jackpot went away, and we won the Hollywood Futurity, and ended up with a fresh horse," Hendricks said. "You never imagine that you have a horse of the quality to make [the Derby]. You hope you do, but you can't sit there and say 'Oh yeah, this is it, this is my Derby horse.' You've heard that over the years, and then you don't find them in May. Since the Hollywood Futurity, we've kept on that schedule and kept a fresh horse, lightly-trained, that I believe has got a lot in reserve to go on right now."
Brother Derek will make his first start at 1 1/8 miles in the Santa Anita Derby after beginning this year with victories at Santa Anita in the San Rafael Stakes (G2) on January 14 and Santa Catalina Stakes (G2) on March 4.
"I know that we didn't press him very hard for the last race, and if I need to now, I can," Hendricks said. "I don't have a worn horse at all. I'm right where I want to be."
Hendricks continued to downplay any pressure that comes with training a potential favorite for the Derby.
"To me, the pressure of it is minimal in this situation," Hendricks said. "Cecil Peacock and I talk every day and we get a good laugh over it because it's been a lot of fun. I keep telling him 'Do you know what kind of trouble you've gotten us into with this horse, do you know where we're at in this situation?' He laughs and says he blames me."
Hendricks, who was paralyzed in a July 2004 motorcycle accident, acknowledged that he has a unique outlook.
"The Kentucky Derby is the biggest race in the world, but it still is just horse racing," Hendricks said. "It's not the end all. We're not talking about being in a bunker in Iraq. We're just talking about racing horses. Of course, I think [paralysis] makes me different and gives me a little different perspective."
John Shirreffs, the trainer of 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, spoke in admiration of Hendricks's perseverance.
"To have something like that happen to a person, it's hard for me to imagine how he's handling it, but it seems to me that he's handling it great," Shirreffs said.
Shirreffs will send San Felipe Stakes (G2) winner A. P. Warrior against Brother Derek in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby.
Shirreffs said A. P. Warrior probably earned his ticket to the Kentucky Derby in the San Felipe, and a victory in the Santa Anita Derby would not be crucial.
"I'm more concerned about the way he rates behind horses and how he handles himself," Shirreffs said. "He sometimes can be a little aggressive. In the San Felipe, he was perfect. If he does that again, I think we'll be in real good shape."—Jeff Lowe
