Two Months Out
January 5th, 2006by Robert Kieckhefer
Brother Derek Wins Santa Catalina
Benoit Photo
First Samurai and Brother Derek finished third and fourth in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1). But after the first big weekend of prep races, they may be first and second on the list of Kentucky Derby hopefuls.
Brother Derek needed no help in winning Saturday’s $200,000 Santa Catalina Stakes at Santa Anita. First Samurai needed a boost from the stewards to win the $300,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.
And don’t lose t rack of Laity, who ran well to win Saturday’s $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park in Kentucky, or Sharp Humor, winner of the $150,000 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream.
Each of the three races is a preliminary for its host track’s big Derby prep – the Santa Anita Derby, the Florida Derby and the Lane’s End Stakes, respectively.
Brother Derek, a California-bred son of Benchmark, pressed the pace in the Santa Catalina, grabbed the lead on the turn for home and had no trouble holding off the late run of longshot Sacred Light to win by 1 3/4 lengths. With Alex Solis up for trainer Dan Hendricks, Brother Derek ran 1 1/16 mile in 1:41.96.
If that’s not enough, Hendricks said the colt wasn’t even in peak form yet.
“We had him a little fresh by not doing as much work,” he said. “I’d say I had him cranked about 90 percent and that’s why he was a little fresh. But that’s what we wanted to do and it worked out perfect.”
Solis said Brother Derek “won it very easily. I wasn’t using him that much. We wanted to make sure we didn’t do him in before the Kentucky Derby, if we get to that point.”
Since his fourth-place finish in the Juvenile, Brother Derek has made two starts, winning both the Hollywood Juvenile in December the San Rafael in January. The next stop for the bay colt will be the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 8.
First Samurai, a Kentucky-bred son of Giant’s Causeway, was truly beaten in the Fountain of Youth. After leading to the top of the stretch, First Samurai gave up the lead to Corinthian, who then lugged in, impeding First Samurai’s progress about at the eighth pole. The stewards took a look at the replay and dropped Corinthian to third, elevating First Samurai to the winner’s circle and Flashy Bull to third. Flashy Bull finished only a neck behind First Samurai.
There was little second-guessing about the stewards’ call. But the way First Samurai coughed up the lead should leave some questions about his desire to go a mile and a quarter two months from now.
“He’s never been two turns before,” winning trainer Frankie Brothers explained. He was a one-turn horse. It was a very good race and we got him to relax.”
In his first start as a three-year-old, First Samurai finished second to Keyed Entry in the 7 1/2-furlongs Hutcheson Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream, lacking a stretch rally.
Brothers said that First Samurai’s final Derby prep is “wide open – either the Florida Derby or the Blue Grass (at Keeneland). This race doesn’t get him to the first Saturday in May. But it gets him going.”
At Turfway, Laity answered the starter’s call for the Battaglia off a four-month vacation. In his last start, the Kentucky-bred Pulpit colt finished a well-beaten eighth in the Iroquois at Churchill Downs. And that sad effort followed a fifth-place effort in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland’s fall meet. He did win the Miller Lite Cradle Stakes at River Downs, across the Ohio River from Turfway, by more than 11 lengths last September.
Brothers, who also trains Laity, obviously found a key during the layoff because the bay colt broke sharply, retreated on the backstretch and then got the lead on the turn for home. A late rally by Pair of Kings fell 1/2 length short and New Awakening was third. The favorite, Kilimanjaro, finished seventh. Laity ran the 1 1/16 mile on the all-weather track in 1:46.88 for jockey Corey Lanerie.
“On the backside, I don’t know if he lost interest but I really thought I was out of horse,” Lanerie said. “About the half-mile pole, I had to pull the stick out and go to work on him and he responded to it.”
At the end, he said, he felt Pair of Kings coming “and I thought he was going to run right by me. But then my horse spotted him out of the corner of his eye and he dug deep and he was good enough today.”
Saturday’s $150,000 Swale Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park was only seven furlongs but it gave trainer Dale Romans some longer thoughts. Sharp Humor sat just off a quick pace in the Swale, took the lead on the turn and then battled Noonmark to the wire before winning by a neck. Court Folly was third. Sharp Humor, a New York-bred colt by Distorted Humor, ran 7 furlongs in 1:22.14 with Mark Guidry up.
“We’re going to look at some bigger races down the road,” said Romans, “and see if this horse can go around two turns. I don’t know what those races are yet?.There’s already been one Distorted Humor New York-bred to win the Derby (Funny Cide). Let’s see if we can get there.”
