| Kentucky Derby betting future book favorite maintains status as horse to beat
Brother Derek enhanced his status as the currentbetting favorite for the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby onMay 6, 2006 with a 1 ¾ length victory in Saturday’s 68th runningof the $200,000 Santa Catalina-G2 at Santa Anita.
The 3-year-old colt by Benchmark- Miss Soft Sell by Siyah Kalem broke inwards before rating and pressing three-wide outside pacesetters Latent Heat and Mister Triester through fractions of 23.27, 46.31 and 1:10.31 before taking a short lead from Latent Heat into the stretch. The winner edged away from Latent Heat in mid stretch after a mile in 1:35.41 and drew out late under no urging from jockey Alex Solis.
The final time for the mile and sixteenth was 141.96 but the winner was only shown the whip late and did have something in reserve at the finish. Sacred Light, a 19-1 longshot, rallied for second, finishing 2 ¾ lengths in front of the game but unseasoned Latent Heat. Trained by Dan Hendricks, Brother Derek paid $3.00, $2.80 and $2.10 across the board as the deserving favorite.
As impressive as Brother Derek’s performance was, you can’t help but question the quality of competition he was facing in the Santa Catalina. Not one among his opposition had cracked the 100 Beyer Figure mark in their careers and it showed - with one exception.
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Latent Heat, ridden beautifully by Patrick Valenzuela, was making only his third lifetime start and coming into the race off only a Maiden Special Weight win. The son of Maria’s Mon-True Flare by Capote forced the pace between horses and responded gamely to shake his more seasoned inside rival Mister Triester before finally succumbing to the winner and eventual second place finisher Sacred Light.
Trained by Bobby Frankel, Latent Heat has a 50/50 chance of moving forward in his next start based on his sustained effort in the Santa Catalina, which will provide some badly needed seasoning for him as the Triple Crown trail heats up. Latent Heat may also have just enough pedigree to get the Kentucky Derby distance of a mile and a quarter, but he still has to prove he can rate from a little further off the pace. The use of a dueling style in the Kentucky Derby would not bode well for his chances.
With regards to betting Brother Derek in the Kentucky Derby future book, the odds will probably go down now, and deservedly so. Others will have to make serious moves forward in their final preps if they want to dislodge him from top spot as the current 5-1 Kentucky Derby betting favorite.
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