Nyquist makes highly anticipated sophomore debut in San Vicente
ARCADIA, Calif. – Mohaymen already has shown that he has progressed from age 2 to 3, and so too Mor Spirit. On Monday at Santa Anita, the colt who accomplished more than any of his contemporaries last year, Nyquist, will show where he now stands when he makes his first start of the year in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Vicente Stakes.
Nyquist has not raced since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, where he overcame a poor draw and a worse trip to remain unbeaten in five starts and secure the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male. He was kept in light training after that race but for the past eight weeks has worked regularly, and his sharp series of drills is indicative of a colt ready to begin heading toward the May 7 Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Doug O’Neill said Nyquist is set to go.
“Everything’s gone the way we wanted,” he said. “At this point, we’re ready to go over and compete.”
If the pressure of trying to keep Nyquist unbeaten and on the Derby trail is getting to O’Neill, he’s yet to show it. Asked if Nyquist had physically changed since the Breeders’ Cup, O’Neill said, “It’s hard for us to tell since we’re around him every day, but everybody who hasn’t seen him in a while says he’s grown and matured, says there’s more of Nyquist. There’s certainly more of me.”
The San Vicente, at seven furlongs, is not one of the races for which qualifying points can be earned toward the Derby. Nyquist already has 30 points, which has been more than enough to make the Derby field in the three prior years under this system. This race is a means to an end, a way to get back into action and move along, a prep. But it also will show where Nyquist stands.
It will not be an easy assignment. Nyquist is stuck on the rail in the six-horse field, and his rivals include Exaggerator, the winner last year of the Delta Jackpot and Saratoga Special, and the stakes winner Sheikh of Sheikhs.
O’Neill also is running Denman’s Call, an impressive debut winner last month.
“There’s not a lot of first-condition allowances, and we like seven-eighths for him,” O’Neill said. “He’s not in Nyquist’s category yet, but you never know. He deserves the chance.”
The San Vicente goes as race 5 on a nine-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific.
KEY CONTENDERS
Nyquist, by Uncle Mo Last 3 Beyers: 89-79-82
◗ He won from the rail at Santa Anita going five furlongs in his debut last June, so he’s certainly capable of fleeing the rail, and the horses nearest to him in the gate are not as quick. But he showed in his two-turn races last year that he can sit and finish, so jockey Mario Gutierrez will have options, depending on how sharply Nyquist breaks vis-à-vis his rivals.
Exaggerator, by Curlin Last 3 Beyers: 92-84-86
◗ He is favorably drawn in an outside post, and his Beyer Speed Figures were consistently as good – and in one case superior – to what Nyquist produced last year.
◗ Being by Curlin, he figures to improve with age, and he was battle tested last year, making six starts at five tracks. But he was 0 for 2 in head-to-head meetings against Nyquist, including when fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Denman’s Call, by Northern Afleet Beyer: 82
◗ He got no action (22-1) in his debut but won like a good thing, and the form was flattered when runner-up Cupid came back to win last weekend.