Solis: Brother Derek 'never had a chance'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Alex Solis walked up to Dan Hendricks and kneeled before the trainer's wheelchair in the tunnel leading to the Churchill Downs track.

The jockey was fresh off riding Brother Derek to the first-ever Kentucky Derby tie — for fourth. Brother Derek was broken and trained at the Salt Lake County Equestrian Center in South Jordan prior to being sold to Canadian oil tycoon Cecil Peacock in March 2005.

"I never had a chance," Solis said, his hands resting on Hendricks' knees.

At that, Hendricks tapped fists with his 10-year-old son and Solis, concluding a Derby week in which he had been besieged as a first-time trainer of the pre-race favorite.

"It was a little anticlimactic," Hendricks said after Barbaro put away the field with a 6 1/2-length victory.

The two-minute stampede of 20 horses in Saturday's Derby also did in highly touted Lawyer Ron and Bob Baffert's trio of Bob and John, Point Determined and Sinister Minister.

"We weren't going to beat the winner," said Baffert, a three-time Derby winner. "He was awesome."

Brother Derek was compromised by two factors: taking on 19 other horses and starting from the 18th spot in the gate.

"Down the backside, he got into a lot of dirt and you could see him jumping around, kind of looking for a clear spot," said Hendricks, who watched the race on TV in the tunnel rather than from the owners' and trainers' box seats.

He was paralyzed from the waist down in a motocross accident nearly two years ago.

"We thought the 20-horse field would interfere with our strategic abilities, and it did," the trainer said. "It just looked like it was a bit much to overcome the 18 hole, the little bit of wide trip and the dirt."

But Hendricks was anything but glum about Brother Derek losing by 9 1/2 lengths. In fact, he was already looking ahead.

"I was real happy with him," he said. "We'll have a lot better chance at the Preakness with the tight turns, and we'll utilize our speed a little more."

Surrounded by his three young sons, Hendricks caught his first long breath of Derby week.

"It's been a little surreal," he said. "My boys are with me and we're having a lot of fun. Everyone has been standing behind me that's been there from the beginning."