Major Nyquist adds blinkers, moves to dirt for second start
While high-profile 2-year-old prospects in California typically wait for Del Mar summer to launch their careers, the Los Alamitos early summer meet has already produced a handful of noteworthy juvenile performances.
The potential for another arrives Friday, when second-time starter Major Nyquist and fast-working firster Happy Tears sprint five furlongs in race 5. The maiden race precedes an entry-level allowance sprint, race 6, that includes front-runner Disco Ball, late-runners Self Taught and Truth Seeker, and comebacker Hockey Dad.
The meet’s flashiest 2-year-old was Procrastination, runaway winner July 4 with a 74 Beyer Speed Figure. He is trained by Michael McCarthy, whose debut colt Wizard of Westwood dead-heated with President Z a day earlier. They followed a front-running debut by the speedy California-bred colt Straighten Up on July 1. Los Alamitos 2-year-olds this summer are quick.
McCarthy does not typically crank up 2-year-olds this early, but he seeks his third straight win by a debut juvenile on Friday. He starts Happy Tears, whose fast workouts at Santa Anita suggest he is well-meant.
In a sense, Del Mar is still a long way off.
“We’ve got 2-year-olds that are ready to run right now, but we’ve still got another [two weeks] until Del Mar,” McCarthy said.
He could wait, or he could run. This July, he has chosen to run.
Happy Tears, by Into Mischief, worked a bullet half-mile from the gate Sunday at Santa Anita and is likely to show speed under jockey Diego Herrera.
But the most likely winner has an experience edge. Major Nyquist worked well into his June 10 debut at Santa Anita, but his works were on dirt. When he debuted on turf, he was compromised by the footing.
“He’s a real big Nyquist colt and he just struggled with the ground, the turf, a little bit,” trainer Doug O’Neill said.
Following the fifth-place finish, Major Nyquist continued to work fast, including a bullet drill last weekend in which he wore blinkers and blazed a 46.20-second half-mile from the gate. Major Nyquist adds blinkers Friday and should be tough under Abel Cedillo.
Others in the maiden race include recent two-three finishers Crowning Gold and Pacific States, second-time starter Castleknock, and firsters Jin Ton and Gas Me Up.
O’Neill starts comebacker Hockey Dad in the race-6 allowance sprint, the colt’s first start since finishing third last summer in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby. Hockey Dad has won sprinting and might be the class of the field, but the most likely winner is Disco Ball.
A front-runner/pace-presser, Disco Ball finished third last out in a similar allowance and hails from a hot stable. Trainer Brian Koriner is 6 for 14 the past month. Disco Ball, who has a win and two seconds from three starts at Los Alamitos, faces horse-for-course specialists Self Taught and Truth Seeker. Priano will keep the pace honest, while comebacker Albizu merits consideration in his first start since November.