Derby Updates

By: Josh Abner

WEST/BROTHER DEREK HANDS DOWN WINNER OF SANTA ANITA DERBY - Cecil Peacock's Brother Derek will look to continue his West Coast dominance when he heads east as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) following his easy 3 ¼-length victory in Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (GI).

There were only four challengers for the odds-on favorite in the smallest Santa Anita Derby field in 60 years after Bob and John shipped to New York to run in Aqueduct's Wood Memorial (GI) and longshot Indy Wildcat was a late scratch.

Brother Derek figured to grab the early lead and cruise to victory - and that's exactly what happened. Jockey Alex Solis guided the Dan Hendricks-trained son of Benchmark to the finish line without raising his whip through the stretch. Stan Fulton's A.P. Warrior, trained by last year's Derby-winning trainer John Shirreffs, loomed on the outside at the three-eighths pole, but could not threaten the winner. Point Determined, owned by the Estate of Robert Lewis and Beverly Lewis, closed to finish second with A.P. Warrior another 1 ½-lengths back in third. Sacred Light, who stumbled badly at the gate, was never a factor and finished a distant fourth.

The win was Brother's Derek's fourth straight graded stakes win at a two-turn distance and improved his career record to 6-0-1 in eight career starts. The winner's purse of $450,000 raised his lifetime bankroll to $1,162,080. Brother Derek covered the 1 1/8-miles over a "fast" track in 1:48.

"This horse is a monster," said Solis, a three-time Kentucky Derby runner-up. "He keeps impressing me more and more each race he runs."

Hendricks, meanwhile, is heading for his first Kentucky Derby as a trainer. He hopes to follow a trend of success by Derby rookies as Barclay Tagg (Funny Cide, 2003), John Servis (Smarty Jones, '04) and John Shirreffs (Giacomo, '05) won the last three runnings of the race with their first Derby starters.

"He just relaxed real well and that's all he needed to do to get the mile and an eighth," said Hendricks. "I don't think distance now is any question. We just have to keep doing what he's been doing and crank him up for the first Saturday in May."

Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia said following the race that, regardless of the outcomes in Saturday's Toyota Bluegrass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland and the Arkansas Derby (GII) at Oaklawn, Brother Derek would be installed as the morning line favorite for the 132nd renewal of America's greatest race.

EAST/BAFFERT'S BOB AND JOHN SHIPS EAST TO TAKE WOOD - The Santa Anita Derby has served as a successful sendoff for Bob Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby winners Silver Charm ('97) and Real Quiet ('98), but Baffert decided to take a different route with Stonerside Stable's Bob and John.

He sent Bob and John to New York's Aqueduct for his final Kentucky Derby prep and the decision paid dividends on Saturday as the son of Seeking the Gold rallied to win the $750,000 Wood Memorial (GI) at Aqueduct by a 1 ½-lengths.

Bob and John wore down the pacesetting Keyed Entry over the "sloppy" going at Aqueduct and held off the fast-charging Jazil to collect a second Wood victory for Baffert and Stonerside. They teamed up to win the race with Congaree, the eventual third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, in 2001.

Baffert had said in the week leading up to the Wood that he was looking to avoid the speed-favoring Santa Anita surface and the expected quick pace out West. Bob and John covered the 1 1/8-miles on the wet footing in 1:51.54 under jockey Garrett Gomez.

"Just goes to show you that there is so much speed in California, it's like a vacation when you get away from there," Baffert said. "We tried something different. When he hit the wire, his ears went up and he wanted to shut down. He's still immature."

The win improved Bob and John's career record to 4-1-3 from nine starts and improved his lifetime earnings to $680,070. The late rally by Shadwell Stables' Jazil and jockey Fernando Jara enabled the Kiaran McLaughlin trainee to nip the tiring Keyed Entry at the wire for the runner-up spot. That rally probably enabled Jazil to collect the necessary graded stakes earnings for a start in the Kentucky Derby.

"We were very happy that he was able to close, that's his style," said McLaughlin, who finished second with 71-1 shot Closing Argument in the 2005 Derby. "Fernando has been on him his previous three or four races, and he always comes running late. So, we were happy that he showed that same run today again, especially against this caliber of horse. It looks like he will like a mile and a quarter and we are sure looking forward to the opportunity."

Despite his third-place finish Keyed Entry remained in the Kentucky Derby picture. Trainer Todd Pletcher said that the colt would arrive at Churchill Downs on Monday, April 17 to train over the Churchill Downs oval and that a Derby bid was still being considered.

"At the end of the day, I don't think he ran that bad a race," Pletcher said. "I think he at least ran well enough, and has run well enough every start in his life, that we should at least be here to see how he trains over the racetrack and see how he's doing, and not make a decision, prematurely, one way or another."

Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) winner Deputy Glitters had been expected to scratch if the track was wet, but stayed in the race and finished a distant sixth.

Too Much Bling Turns In Glowing Bay Shore Performance - Baffert and Gomez had a fruitful cross-country trip to New York on Saturday as they also won the $150,000 Bay Shore Handicap (GIII) with Stonerside Stables and Blazing Meadows Too Much Bling.

The San Vicente (GII) winner dueled early with Darley Stable's Songster, but pulled away at the top of the stretch for an emphatic nine-length win in the seven-furlong contest. The win cemented the speedy son of Rubiano's position as the nation's top 3-year-old sprinter as he covered the distance over a "sloppy" track in 1:22.40.

"He ran really well," Gomez said. "One of the keys is trying to get him to shut down early in the race. I actually thought at the half-mile pole that he was getting a little eager. When I turned for home, I smooched to him and sent him on his way. He's got a mind of his own. He's got phenomenal speed. If he can keep that bottled up and enjoy himself, he's 10 times better."

Songster held for second, three-quarters of a length ahead of One Way Flight. Devil's Concierge and Trailing Twelve completed the order of finish.

MIDWEST/SWEETNORTHERNSAINT ROLLS IN ILLINOIS - Northern California's Cause to Believe garnered most of the headlines coming into Saturday's $500,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Race Course, but it was Joseph J. Balsamo and Ted Theos's Sweetnorthernsaint from the East who invaded from the East and stole the show.

The Maryland-based son of Sweetsouthernsaint, trained by Michael Trombetta, pressed the early pace set by B. Wayne Hughes Mister Triester and drew off in the stretch under Kent Desormeaux to collect a 9 ¼-length victory. Mister Triester held for second with the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained Cause to Believe was another length back in third.

Sweetnorthernsaint navigated the 1 1/8-miles in 1:49.82, and Desormeaux suggested that the added distance in the spring classics would not be an issue for the former claimer.

"Michael has done a great job with this horse," the two-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey said. "I'll tell you right now, the Belmont would probably be the easiest thing for this horse. He's going to enjoy distance. The mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby is the classic distance and I think it's right between his eyes."

The win improved Sweetnorthernsaint's record to 3-0-1 from six starts and improved his earnings to $377,000. The win should give Trombetta, who had originally pointed toward the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct before opting to send his star to Chicago, his first Kentucky Derby starter.

"It worked out well," said Trombetta. "He's a very talented individual. There was always a question of rate-ability. He showed today, he can do what ever that man (Desormeaux) wants him to do. I hope we're in Louisville four weeks from now. If he's doing well, we'd love to be a part of it."

Hollendorfer was not ruling out a trip to Kentucky for his son of Maria's Mon following Saturday's third-place finish.

"I'm not going to make any excuses, but we didn't get the kind of pace we needed today," the veteran horseman told the San Francisco Chronicle. "They went :48 and 1:13 and that's not going to give him a chance to close down like he is used to doing."

"The winner is very impressive and a very great-looking horse that we thought would win if we didn't," Hollendorfer said. "I didn't expect to run third, but he did gallop out well after the race and came back to the barn in very good shape."

Lawyer Ron Sharp In Final Prep For Arkansas Derby - Lawyer Ron, owned by the Estate of James T. Hines Jr. and trained by Oaklawn veteran Bob Holthus, turned in another "bullet" move on Saturday in his final work prior to Saturday's $1 million Arkansas Derby.

Oaklawn clockers caught Saturday's five-furlong move for the son of Langfuhr in :59, the fastest of 24 at the distance. The move left his veteran trainer impressed.

"No question this was Lawyer Ron's best work ever," Holthus said. "Yes, we worked fast, but he wasn't driving or ripping. He is an excellent work horse, and he just does things that other horses can't do. And he does them easily."

Lawyer Ron enters Saturday's race on a five-race win streak as he looks to sweep the Arkansas series of Kentucky Derby preps. The Kentucky-bred chestnut is undefeated in six attempts on the dirt after seven unsuccessful attempts on turf and polytrack. And boasts a record of 6-1-3 from 13 career starts with earnings of $620,008.

Joining Lawyer Ron on the Saturday work tab at Oaklawn were the other three top finishers from the March 18 Rebel (GIII). Lawyer Ron's stablemate Red Raymond, second in the Rebel, covered five-furlongs in 1:00.80. A strong run on Saturday could give the 70-year-old Holthus a pair of Kentucky Derby contenders.

"It looks like he'll have to finish 1-2-3 in the Arkansas Derby to get into the Kentucky Derby," Holthus said of Red Raymond.

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