DON'T SELL HIM SHORT.Byline: Kevin Modesti ARCADIA - Brother Derek Brother Derek is a thoroughbred horse. A foal of 2003, he was thought to be a contender for the Triple Crown in 2006. He was an early favorite in the Kentucky Derby. However, after starting in post position #18, he fell short in the "Run for the Roses," finishing in a dead heat for cannot win the Kentucky Derby Kentucky Derby One of the classic U.S. Thoroughbred horse races. It was established in 1875 and run annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs track in Louisville, Ky. With the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, it makes up U.S. racing's coveted Triple Crown. . He's one of those front-running horses, and they never win the Derby. Besides, he's one of those lowly California-breds, and they never amount to anything. Believe that? Then please keep saying it. Shout it all the way to Louisville. The 54,189 of us who watched Brother Derek lead the Santa Anita Derby The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $750,000. from gate to wire Saturday will thank you for driving his odds as high as possible before he runs at Churchill Downs Churchill Downs, Ky.: see Louisville. next month. "It all changes in the (Kentucky) Derby," trainer Dan Hendricks said, referring to how Brother Derek could be at a disadvantage because that Derby tends to be run so differently from this Derby. Now, I think Hendricks is in on the con as well, maybe underselling his colt a tiny bit. OK, the 69th running of the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby proved very little. Brother Derek was hardly challenged after he and jockey Alex Solis Alex O. Solis (born March 25, 1964 in Panama City, Panama) is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California. He first gained national prominence when he won the 1986 Preakness Stakes with Snow Chief. went to the front right out of the gate. The other five horses and riders just watched them go, and go, and go, and win by 3 1/4 lengths. But what it did demonstrate is that the handicaJppers have had it right so far. Brother Derek won like an odds-on favorite should. He won like the nation's top-ranked 3-year-old should. Now the handsome patch of white on his forehead and the colorful name of Cecil Peacock on his "owner" line will almost certainly be the favorite May 6 in Louisville. Unless you and I do a good job of sandbagging Sandbagging is the practice of deceptively portraying oneself as being in a weaker position than is true.
Just between you and me, the truth is that Brother Derek's fourth consecutive victory, over pretty serious young thoroughbreds like Point Determined and A.P. Warrior, in one of the fastest times in recent Santa Anita Derbies, showed that he's a really good horse. Solis is not one of those jockeys who makes every winner sound like the second coming of Citation, so it's worth listening to him gush over this one. "This horse is a monster," said Solis, who got his second Santa Anita Derby victory, 20 years after getting his first with Snow Chief, and stood up in the irons and waved two fingers before he crossed the wire. "Just incredible. He keeps impressing me more and more each race he runs." Take it easy, Alex, you'll kill the price. With one more weekend of major Kentucky Derby prep races to go, horseplayers are beginning to size up the prospects, looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. horses with moderate chances and big odds. That means they're predisposed pre·dis·pose v. pre·dis·posed, pre·dis·pos·ing, pre·dis·pos·es v.tr. 1. a. To make (someone) inclined to something in advance: to knock the favorite. That means poking holes in Brother Derek. The Bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. natives will get over the fact Brother Derek is a Cal-bred pretty quickly. This state's breeders have produced some nice horses recently, including 2000 Horse of the Year Tiznow. Besides, since the start of the 1990s, we've seen Derby winners with Pennsylvania, Virginia and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of license plates. The main criticism will be that Brother Derek likes to be in front, or within spitting distance of the front, early in his races. The image of a Derby winner is a horse charging down that long Churchill homestretch home·stretch n. 1. The portion of a racetrack from the last turn to the finish line. 2. Informal The final stages of an undertaking. Noun 1. , passing tiring front-runners. Too many bettors will try to imagine Brother Derek running in the 2005 Derby, in which desperate longshots led the 20-horse field through ridiculously fast fractions, chewing up favorite Bellamy Road and setting it up for Giacomo to rally from 18th and win at 50-1 odds. To them, the lesson of `05 is that you can't bet on a horse to win from the front of the pack in the Derby. In fact, the lesson of `05 was that you never know how the Derby is going to be run and whose style it will favor. Brother Derek got away with setting one of the slowest paces in Santa Anita Derby history Saturday - the slowest half-mile split (47.59) ever run in this race on a fast track - before coming home strong without feeling the whip to make it the second-fastest 1 1/8 miles (1:48.00) in the past eight runnings. Who's to say, though, that Brother Derek couldn't have run quicker sooner if he had been forced to? Or that he couldn't have sat behind another speedster speed·ster n. 1. One who drives very fast. 2. A fast car. as he did in shorter races? Off what we know now, Brother Derek is the horse to beat at Churchill Downs. But let's see if we can keep that quiet. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Jockey Alex Solis rides Brother Derek, far right, to a victory in the Santa Anita Derby before 54,189 fans at Santa Anita. Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer Box: BIG HORSESHOES TO FILL |
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