He is only the eighth undefeated Kentucky Derby victor and the second Derby victor for both O’Neill and Gutierrez, who teamed up with I’ll Have Another in 2011.
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“You need to take the edge off”, O’Neill said a little sheepishly about 10 hours later, as he triumphantly walked away from the Churchill winner’s circle after Nyquist rolled to Derby victory. “You see it in his eye every day”. “If he was a human athlete, we’d celebrate him as a super star”.
Nyquist entered Churchill Downs as the horse with the most winnings in the history of the race. The colt broke well out of the 13th post and showed some early speed getting away from the gate.
“His run was awesome”. Like Gutierrez, trainer Doug O’Neill and owner Paul Reddam claimed their second Kentucky Derby.
“This horse is really something”.
The Steven Asmussen-trained Gun Runner finished third, ahead of the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Mohaymen.
With questions lingering about Nyquist’s ability to last the 1 1/4 miles of the Derby, Santa Anita Derby victor Exaggerator began closing the gap from far back in the 20-horse field.
“What a horse”, marveled Keith Desormeaux.
On that ebullient walk from the Derby winner’s circle to the postrace press conference, filled with high fives and congratulations from strangers, a friend threw an arm over O’Neill’s shoulder. Nyquist settled right in and took an obvious liking to his surroundings.
“You felt like you were going to the gym with Kobe Bryant”, he added. “There was no way I was going to be nervous with the way he has performed”. Mario gets a lot of credit too. “What a ride, what a ride”.
Nyquist, named after Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, paid $6.60 on a $2 win bet.
The fallout from that crushing disappointment could have split the partnership, but instead, it affirmed the loyalty between O’Neill and Reddam, who stood by his trainer through a spate of medication violations. He became the first jockey to win his first two Derby races. He was scratched the day before because of a stomach illness.
Neither was a problem for the son of Uncle Mo.
“We are fiddling while Rome is burning”, former Maryland Jockey Club Chief Executive Joe De Francis said last week at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing in Washington (via Reuters). “Having been close to a possible Triple Crown, made me realize it doesn’t happen until it happens”. Those four, however, produced just one Triple Crown victor.
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The player’s namesake – 3-year-old thoroughbred Nyquist – is taking horse racing success to a new level. Now the group has weekly meetings to make sure they’re all on the same page. “Maybe later tonight we’ll think about two weeks from now”, he said. Click down to read 5 facts! But these suggestions should be sent To avoid distracting other readers, we won’t publish comments that suggest a correction.
