Exaggerator joins cast for Haskell Invitational, will face Nyquist

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – What trainer Keith Desormeaux was seeing in the flesh from his 3-year-old Exaggerator was not jibing with what he was seeing on the track.

So, the trainer called a major audible Wednesday, deciding to send his Preakness winner to Monmouth Park for Sunday’s Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational rather than running in Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy at Saratoga or attempting to train up to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers, also at Saratoga, on Aug. 27.

In the Haskell, Exaggerator will be taking on Nyquist, whom Exaggerator finished second to in the Kentucky Derby but whom he defeated in the Preakness Stakes. Nyquist missed the Belmont due to illness, while Exaggerator finished 11th as the 7-5 favorite.

Desormeaux was planning to use the Jim Dandy to get to the Travers. But Desormeaux wasn’t thrilled with Exaggerator’s two workouts at Saratoga, including a six-furlong move in 1:13.94 last Saturday that Desormeaux was on hand to witness.

A week earlier, Exaggerator worked a fast five furlongs in 1:00.76, but in neither work did Exaggerator finish or gallop out the way Desormeaux or his assistant Julie Clark wanted.

“There’s no doubt in my mind I have a fit, vibrant, healthy, happy, sound, talented animal,” Desormeaux said Wednesday from Southern California. “That I don’t second guess at all.

“Julie’s done a great job with him. He’s recovered from the Belmont, his flesh is great, he looks beautiful,” Desormeaux added. “What I couldn’t explain was those works. In his work when I was not there, he pulled up even quicker than he did last Saturday, and that doesn’t make sense to me.”

Desormeaux believes Monmouth’s surface may be more akin to Santa Anita, a surface over which Exaggerator has run well. He likes the potential pace scenario of the Haskell even if it is Nyquist and Gun Runner, the Kentucky Derby third-place finisher, who may be a part of it.

Lastly, the Haskell is worth $400,000 more than the Jim Dandy and offers a fees-paid berth to the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Nov. 5.

“The pace of the Haskell, the fact he might not like the surface at Saratoga, and the financial angle makes the decision a no-brainer,” Desormeaux said. “That’s where I’m coming from.”

Matt Bryan, who heads Big Chief Racing, the majority owner of Exaggerator, said the Haskell could go a long way in determining the champion 3-year-old male.

“If you really, truly want to be the 3-year-old colt of the year, you have to run against the best,” Bryan said. “Nyquist is running in this race, Gun Runner, American Freedom; not saying there are not good horses in the Jim Dandy with Destin and Creator, but racing in a Grade 1 just helps you try to see who the best is.”

Desormeaux said he would still like to run Exaggerator in the Travers if his performance in the Haskell and subsequent training at Saratoga warrant that.

“Hopefully, it’s a nonissue; run great and look forward to the Travers,” Desormeaux said. “It’s an exciting event. I really want to be a part of it.”

Nyquist, trained by Doug O’Neill for Paul Reddam, was scheduled to ship to New Jersey on Wednesday. He was to be accompanied on the flight by American Freedom, the Iowa Derby winner, who is seeking to give trainer Bob Baffert a ninth Haskell victory.

Entries for the Haskell were to be taken Thursday. Others expected to run include Blue Grass Stakes winner Brody’s Cause; Awesome Slew, third in the Pegasus Stakes; and Sunny Ridge, the winner of the Grade 3 Withers Stakes, who has not run since finishing fourth in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on March 5.