Exaggerator, son of the millennial all-timer Curlin, and under the savvy ride of an experienced Kent Desormeaux, used Nyquist’s precociousness against him to win the 141st Preakness Stakes, dashing Nyquist’s hopes of a Triple Crown.
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Nyquist was hoping to be the 23rd horse in racing history to win the first two jewels of the Triple Crown and offer the sport a second straight crown after American Pharoah completed the feat a year ago.
Owned by Paul Reddam, Nyquist has won eight of nine career starts – including five Grade I races – with earnings of $5,119,200.
The likelihood that the muddy track benefited Exaggerator doesn’t necessarily mean that it was a handicap to Nyquist, who would stay at or near the front of the pack for the entire race before being overtaken by Exaggerator and surprising place horse Cherry Wine. He finished third behind the Preakness victor Exaggerator, who was second to Nyquist in the Kentucky Derby. Tragically, there was another story line to his day: In the first four races of the day, two horses died, one of an apparent heart attack after winning the first race, the other euthanized after breaking down in the fourth race. “I’ve thought about Exaggerator and his second Grade 1 win”. Exaggerator gained the lead in the stretch against a fading champion and won the race by 3 1/2 lengths. “And Exaggerator just kind of slid up the fence to the far turn, where I actually got to slow him down and say, ‘Whenever I’m ready'”.
“What a great run”, Nyquist’s trainer Doug O’Neill said. “I think Nyquist had company all the way around the course and they stayed really wide, and I had a dream trip today and he’s an fantastic horse”. The hot pace proved to be the undoing of the undefeated Nyquist. Maybe Nyquist was trying to steal the Preakness like American Pharoah did a year ago in similar conditions, but American Pharoah never exhausted and proved he was the rare Triple Crown champion. Cherry Wine, left, with Corey Lanerie aboard places second and Nyquist with Mario Gutierrez riding placed third.
The race came hours after two thoroughbreds died at the track.
In contrast, Kent Desormeaux was able to take a stalking position on the rail on the Derby second and when push came to shove for Nyquist at the top of the stretch, he soon swept past. It was a heroic effort, reminiscent of Smarty Jones when he was beaten in the 2004 Belmont Stakes and American Pharoah when he lost the 2015 Travers Stakes.
“I could feel Exaggerator coming”. “But Nyquist still ran a huge race”.
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Kent Desormeaux’s hall-of-fame career took off on the tracks of Maryland in the ’80s and he has intimate knowledge of Pimlico. It’s there. My job in the next three weeks, again, is freshening him, and getting him strong and happy. We did, they didn’t. Exaggerator barely broke a sweat, winning the 13/16-mile race in 1:58.31 with Nyquist finishing third.
