Nyquist – now 8-0 after a 1 1/4-length win against Exaggerator at Churchill Downs May 7 – will be trying to duplicate last year’s memorable run to the Triple Crown by American Pharoah.
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For all the lessons learned about why it’s so hard to win the Triple Crown, Nyquist has one very important factor going for him as he enters the Preakness Stakes in two weeks with talk already bubbling that he could join American Pharoah just one year after the 37-year drought was broken. The 3-year-old colt became the eighth unbeaten victor in the race’s 142-year history, and the first since Big Brown in 2008.
The Kentucky Derby victor is usually kept in highly regarded Stall 40 of the Preakness Barn, home of several Triple Crown champions, including Secretariat and Seattle Slew.
The official winning time for the 1 1/4-mile race was 2:01.31.
For the team of owner Paul Reddam, trainer Doug O’Neill, and jockey Mario Gutierrez, Nyquist’s victory marked their second win in the Kentucky Derby, following their success with I’ll Have Another in 2012. At 1 3/16 miles, the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown will be renewed May 21.
Before the Derby, the Wynn Las Vegas’ race book made Nyquist 8-1 to win all three races.
Also under consideration for the Preakness are two more Derby runners, Gun Runner (third) and Suddenbreakingnews (fifth), as well as Azteca, Adventist and Fellowship. This horse, he’s really something. “With a horse this good, we wanted to treat it with respect and the reverence that we owe the horse”.
Gutierrez and the horse went around Churchill Downs as though they were one entity with six legs. “Johnny Garcia, who gets on him every day, has been saying that for a while now and this horse is so strong and does everything so easy, and you know, he’s never exhausted”.
“You just felt there was no way you could be nervous because you just felt like you were going in the gym with Kobe Bryant”, O’Neill said.
“We’ve talked about a lot of these horses probably get 80% of their training, where we’re able to train 100% of the time”.
“He’s a nice horse, and I think he’ll probably sit back a little bit and try to come with a run”. “He has to stay healthy, but he is a great horse”.
The horse with perhaps the most troubled trip was Suddenbreakingnews, victor of Oaklawn’s Southwest Stakes.
Nyquist could face as many as 13 rivals in the Preakness as of Monday morning. For all we know, he might be more than just a very talented racehorse… he might be a superstar in the making! “And I think he proved all his critics wrong”. “I trust him”, Gutierrez said. Nyquist has led coming down the stretch in each of his last seven races, according to AL.com’s Mark Inabinett.
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Gutierrez – whom broadcasters praised as “being as cool as ice” during the race – called Nyquist “an awesome horse” after crossing the finish line. “He’s the kind of horse that always has something left for whatever comes late”. Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978. “We need a higher power to keep this guy injury free”. A bet at Bovada now for Nyquist winning the Triple Crown is a +250 wager, with “No” the favorite at -400. “I’m confident because Doug has confidence”.
