His career leveled off after he rode I’ll Have Another to wins in the 2012 Derby and Preakness before the colt was withdrawn from the Belmont Stakes with a career-ending tendon injury the day before the race. The 142nd Kentucky Derby can be seen on NBC at 6:34 p.m. ET, though you’ll want to tune in beginning at 4 to watch all the festivities before the race.
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Better leadership at the top could also help the sport’s dip in popularity. Nyquist had won his first seven races, including four prestigious Grade 1s, by a combined 15 lengths – an average of just over two lengths. “Because in 2012 I don’t know if I could have mentally taken that”.
Gutierrez, who won his second Derby, stayed cool early, guided Nyquist easily into stalking position, and used decent urging down the stretch, but nothing like Victor Espinoza used in the stretch of the Derby a year ago, when he was criticized for using the whip on American Pharoah 32 times.
Reddam admitted in the winner’s circle a part of his mind is on that unfinished business, even as he enjoyed the Run for the Roses. “Obviously, we were going to take it to ’em. I love the way he fired out of there and sat behind Danzing Candy”, owner J. Paul Reddam said. It doesn’t seem like we have ever really gotten to the bottom of him.
As expected, jockey Mario Gutierrez got Nyquist out of the gate alertly and had him forwardly placed.
“I thought I had it for a minute”, said Florent Geroux, aboard Gun Runner. Meanwhile, Exaggerator, who had been near the back of the pack early was successfully weaving his way through traffic and looking like the one horse that could possibly threaten the march to the wire of Nyquist. Gun Runner came in third, while Mohaymen finished fourth. Exaggerator was the 5-1 second choice. The last three runners to leave the Derby still undefeated were Big Brown, Barbaro and Smarty Jones – three of the most widely popular horses to run this century. “I can’t respect that horse enough”.
“I was very optimistic coming over here (from the barns)”. It takes a talented and tough horse to do that on the first Saturday in May. With the earnings that he got from the Kentucky Derby, believed to be around $2 million, we can say he’s surely feeling good about life right now!
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“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. But what do you know about Nyquist? And Mario gets a lot of the credit, too.
