Four-year-old Nysos notched four graded stakes victories in five 2025 starts, defending the West Coast with relentless precision and quietly putting together one of the best campaigns of his class over the course of eight months. Bred in Kentucky by Susie Atkins, Nysos was sired by Nyquist out of the unraced mare Zetta Z. He went to auction three times between 2021 and 2023 and was ultimately purchased for $550,000 by Baoma Corp. at the 2023 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. spring sale of 2-year-olds in training. Owned by Baoma Corp for most of his career, Coolmore affiliates Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor bought an interest in the colt as a lessee ahead of Nysos’s last start, which came in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes on Dec. 28 at Santa Anita. He earned just more than $1 million during his 2025 campaign. After the colt was forced to miss the majority of his 3-year-old season, trainer Bob Baffert decided to give Nysos an immense test in his return on May 3, entering him in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes presented by Ford off a 15-month layoff. In a blanket finish featuring four graded stakes winners, Nysos dead-heated for second in the seven-furlong sprint behind Mindframe. He has not lost since. :: Full list of 2025 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories Back in California for the rest of his season, Nysos ran again 28 days later and took down a four-horse field in the Grade 3 Triple Bend, his first victory since February 2024. In the 5 1/2-length romp at seven furlongs, he earned a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure. In July, he earned heavy favoritism in the Grade 2, 1 1/16-mile San Diego Handicap and kicked clear to win again by 2 3/4 lengths. The San Diego was his last race before the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar in November, a profound opportunity for the sharp miler in his home state. It’s safe to say that his trainer was confident. “He’s the closest I’ve had to American Pharoah,” Baffert said before the race. Sure enough, at 3-5 odds, Nysos and jockey Flavien Prat flew home from fifth to snatch the Breeders’ Cup victory from stubborn stablemate Citizen Bull, prevailing by a head and earning a 105 Beyer. For a horse whose career had once been put on hold, it was a profound breakthrough. In an encore on Dec. 28, Baffert entered Nysos in the 1 1/16-mile Pincay. Just as he did in the Breeders’ Cup, the colt went off at prohibitively short odds and prevailed by a head over a stablemate, outlasting Nevada Beach on his home track. Because he did not participate in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic and stayed in California for most of his campaign, Nysos often gets lost in an elite crop. While rivals on the East Coast have spent the better part of two years knocking heads, Nysos has been largely removed, dominating at home at shorter distances. If Baffert proceeds with his plans to prepare him for the $20 million Saudi Cup in February, however, that conversation could change in a hurry. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.