Last year, American Pharoah became the first Triple Crown victor in 37 years, and there were many who thought Nyquist would make it two in a row and become the 13th horse to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont.
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But this time Exaggerator told the story better than Nyquist and skated through Pimlico’s muddy surface.
That aspect-Exaggerator’s ability to recover quickly from big efforts-has been a point of emphasis from the Desormeaux camp for a while. This race was essentially decided in the first 400 yards.
The spike in the overnight rating is unusual in the context of a steep decline in the overnight rating for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs two weeks ago. When the time came for Nyquist to storm down the stretch Saturday at Pimlico, the unbeaten colt was spent.
Exaggerator won by more than three lengths with a time of 158.31.
Stradivari was fourth, followed by Lani, Laoban, Uncle Lino, Fellowship, Awesome Speed, Collected and Abiding Star. That’s what always happens in horse racing. O’Neill “It looked like he came back to be unsaddled in good shape, so maybe we’ll try again”.
The absence of Nyquist would leave a massive hole in what was shaping up as a cracking field for the Belmont. It would be good for the sport, though the horse could certainly use a break and will be taxed after running three races in five weeks.
Nyquist’s trainer Doug O’Neill said, “I didn’t think we could get beat but he still ran a huge race”, said after watching his colt forfeit his unbeaten record on his ninth career start.
Nyquist certainly is another special horse.
“We just wanted a clean trip”. He tried hard. You could see, even going the last eighth, he was really plugging away, trying to get back to Exaggerator. Nyquist finally shook off Uncle Lino on the final turn and took the lead, but it was an illusion.
Keith Desormeaux was asked if he would put Kent on Exaggerator in the Belmont.
“We’re thinking (about shipping) Sunday”, the trainer said.
Given the conditions, Exaggerator ran a near-perfect race. He went to Southern California after that to go after the bigger races. Exaggerator won the race. The horse was being taken to New Bolton Center in Pennsylvania for an autopsy. In his undefeated career, Nyquist had never eyed a contender so close to the finish line, much less been hemmed inside along the rail.
“He just blew up and felt like King Kong”, Kent said.
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“I did what I could to get him freshened and happy and strong”. That number seems dubious. The crowd wagered $19.4 million over the previous year, a 4.7 percent increase. Gutierrez knew Exaggerator was simply better. His battles with alcohol have been well documented, and he had not won a Triple Crown event since the 2009 Belmont. And that is precisely the plan for the June 11 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park.
