Elevated white blood cell count keeps Nyquist in barn
Kentucky Derby favorite Nyquist's return to training at Keeneland has been delayed by an elevated white blood cell count.
Nicole RussoApr 07, 2016
Kentucky Derby favorite Nyquist's return to training at Keeneland has been delayed by an elevated white blood cell count.
Saturday, Shagaf will try to take on the look of a top Kentucky Derby contender when he heads an eight-horse field entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
The first time Gary Stevens won the Santa Anita Derby, back in 1988 on the filly Winning Colors, Bob Baffert was in his apartment in Belmont Shore, Calif., watching the race on television, awaiting that night's Quarter Horse racing at Los Alamitos. In the 28 years since then, when it comes to the Santa Anita Derby, it's been hard to beat Stevens or Baffert.
Todd Pletcher has the 5-2 morning-line choice in Zulu for the 92nd Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, but with a full gate of 14 3-year-olds expected, a win by something other than the favorite in the 1 1/8-mile race would not be a big deal. However, it's finding the right upsetter that will prove difficult for fans. One possibility is Laoban.
There's a little bit of everything in San Felipe winner Danzing Candy's pedigree – turf and dirt, sprinters and stayers. The colt, by promising young sire Twirling Candy, has emerged as one of the West Coast's leading Kentucky Derby candidates entering this weekend's Santa Anita Derby.
Fellowship, Majesto, and Oscar Nominated are the three newcomers to this week's Derby Watch top 20, as the list increasingly makes room for those who have earned enough points to safely be in the field for the May 7 Kentucky Derby.
The way that Exaggerator ran against Nyquist in the San Vicente in February continues to leave trainer Keith Desormeaux puzzled over Exaggerator's performance in last month's San Felipe, in which he finished third to Danzing Candy and Mor Spirit. Exaggerator will get a chance to reverse the San Felipe result on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby.
It will be equal parts anticipation and angst for owner Mike Repole when he runs his homebred Outwork in Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
Nyquist’s impressive victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby all but assures that the unbeaten champion 2-year-old male of 2015 will start as the favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Nyquist’s Florida Derby victory, however, will not remove the doubts many pedigree pundits have raised about whether or not there is sufficient stamina in his pedigree for him to stay the 10-furlong Kentucky Derby trip.
Emboldening his backers with a decisive victory Saturday in the Florida Derby, the undefeated Nyquist closed as the solid favorite in the fourth and final pool of the 2016 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.