Brother Derek came out of his 1 3/4-length victory in Saturday's Santa Catalina Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita Park with a minor scrape but trainer Dan Hendricks said it won't impede his schedule en route to the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) April 8."He got one little cut above his coronet band on his left front foot that was really nothing," Hendricks said Sunday morning. "It just had a little blood. Technically, the state veterinarian made a note of it and put him on the injured list, but it's anything but. It was just a mild little thing and not a problem at all. It won't cost him any time."Hendricks said Brother Derek, the future book favorite for the 2006 Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), would "take it easy for a couple weeks, then have a couple of breezes and be ready to run."
Reflecting on the victory in the Santa Catalina at 1 1/16 miles, Hendricks said, "If I'd have mapped it out, he couldn't have done any better. It was a nice, easy race on him, and he did it in racehorse time."The clocking was 1:41.96.