Right until the end, they picked at Nyquist.
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Like O’Neill, Reddam liked the way Nyquist performed despite being the favorite. That he had cranked up his baby too much in capturing the $1 million bonus that hung in the balance for Nyquist last month in the Florida Derby.
He came to the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs Saturday and ran like he was chasing American Pharoah, Seattle Slew, Secretariat and the other winners of the Triple Crown. He’s been surrounded by horses since he was boy, so it’s not surprising that this isn’t first title for the Kentucky Derby Winner.
One of the promising horses Reddam and O’Neill put him on in 2015 was Nyquist – who the jockey has been working out since the horse first came to a racetrack.
“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. At the Derby, the horses get a good deal of coverage, so you may be wondering who was the guy holding the reins, and is this case: Who is Mario Gutierrez?
Desormeaux had seen Nyquist do this before. “I learned that in the San Vicente in California”. And indeed, the hard-charging Exaggerator was gaining on Nyquist with every stride as he approached the wire, but Nyquist was resilient to the finish. Maybe he ran out of the training.
The Detroit Red Wings have enjoyed plenty of National Hockey League success with Gustav Nyquist as a member of the roster.
“He wasn’t stuck in what he had done before”, Romans said. “Knowing what this horse is capable of doing, he did it today. The horses are not machines, so it will be a great race”. He said Nyquist would fly to Baltimore on Monday, which is the exact same schedule he had four years ago with I’ll Have Another after his Derby victory. “He had clear running room the entire (last) ¼ mile stretch”. Nyquist moved to the lead easily and held off the charging Exaggerator by 1 1/4 lengths.
“He’s fantastic”, said Gutierrez.
“My wife encouraged me to get a sports psychologist. When we go to the track each day, he just swishes his tail and asks, ‘What do you want from me now?'”
It was the second-largest crowd in Derby history, behind the 170,513 previous year that saw American Pharoah win.
Exaggerator returned $5.40 and $4.20, while Gun Runner was another 3 lengths back in third and paid $6 to show.
“I loved where Gun Runner was”.
The newcomers are Laoban and Cherry Wine, who were both entered in the Derby but didn’t get in the race; Lexington Stakes winner Collected, trained by Bob Baffert; Federico Tesio winner Awesome Speed; Stradivari, trained by Todd Pletcher; and California Chrome Stakes winner Uncle Lino.
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.
All week Desormeaux told anyone who would listen how special he thought Nyquist was.
Who knows what will happen when Nyquist and Exaggerator meet again, most likely in the Preakness Stakes in two weeks at Pimlico Race Course. Nyquist was the 2-year-old champion, after all.
Now he’ll try to follow American Pharoah and become the second Triple Crown victor in a row after a 37-year drought.
Nyquist is the first undefeated Derby victor with eight victories since Majestic Prince in 1969.
Read on to find out what the trainers and jockeys of the horses who didn’t win the first jewel of the Triple Crown had to say about their experiences in this year’s Derby. I don’t know if he’s good enough, like American Pharoah.
Exaggerator, which had been in 15th along the backstretch, by then was passing other horses four wide and into the stretch.
“He’s way too fit already, ” said Leandro Mora, O’Neill’s chief assistant. “He’s never exhausted”, he said. “We were very confident in him”. “That’s promising for the future”.
“We will see”, the trainer said.
“You look at that resume and think, why argue?” he said.
Suddenbreakingnews jockey Luis Quinonez said his horse did the best he could with so many horses in the race.
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Yes, indeed, it was going to be a tough spring to be a horse racing fan as the Triple Crown season started anew.
