Derby clocker: Nyquist jogs on first visit to track

CHURCHILL DOWNS

Weather: Clear

Track: Muddy

Temperature: 64

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For many years, Sunday seemed to be the work day of choice for the majority of Kentucky Derby contenders. Not so this year.

While the weather had a hand in keeping activity to a minimum on Sunday morning, most of the 2016 Derby group had already been penciled in to have their final preps either Friday or Saturday, even before rain became an issue over the past several days.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY WORKOUTS: Video analysis, news, and times

The track was listed as muddy for Sunday’s Derby/Oaks session, which began at 8:30 a.m., and aside for LANI, it was a quiet morning as expected, with most of the field either walking the shed or merely jogging to stretch their legs. That group included NYQUIST, who arrived on the grounds Saturday afternoon and merely jogged alongside the pony in his first visit to the track. Nyquist is only scheduled to have two gallop days here the remainder of the week.

Those Derby horses who did gallop this morning included CREATOR and GUN RUNNER, both of whom are scheduled to breeze an easy half-mile on Monday, and MOR SPIRIT, who is also likely to work Monday after the renovation break. MO TOM also galloped 1 1/4 miles after schooling in the paddock.

Lani, on the other hand, spent about 40 minutes at the track, first visiting the gate before jogging and galloping four times around the one-mile oval before finally heading home at 9:10.

Only a handful of Oaks runners trained Sunday with RACHEL’S VALENTINA looking like a million dollars and making a particularly favorable impression during her routine gallop while giving every indication she bounced out of last Thursday’s extremely impressive work just as sharp as she went in.