Nyquist will break from rail in Haskell Invitational

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist was made the 6-5 morning-line favorite for Sunday’s Grade 1 Haskell Invitational when post positions were drawn for the $1 million race Thursday. Nyquist, the 2-year-old male champion of 2015, will break from post 1 in the six-horse field.

Nyquist’s assignment in the Haskell grew more difficult Wednesday while he was in transit from Southern California when Exaggerator, the Derby runner-up and Preakness winner, was redirected from the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga to the Haskell by trainer Keith Desormeaux.

The Haskell will be Nyquist’s first start since he got caught up in the pace of the Preakness and finished third. He came out of the Preakness with a temperature and a high white blood cell count that forced him to miss the Belmont Stakes.

Once Nyquist had recovered, trainer Doug O’Neill brought him home to California, where he worked him six times, including a mile in 1:39.40 prior to the first race at Del Mar last Sunday.

“His last two works were the best I’ve seen out of him in a long time,” O’Neill said. “I thought his work last weekend was phenomenal.”

The Preakness was Nyquist’s first loss in nine career starts. Mario Gutierrez, who has been aboard for each of his races, will be in to ride.

Exaggerator, following his Preakness victory, tired to finish 11th in the Belmont Stakes as the 7-5 favorite. Desormeaux kept him at Belmont Park with assistant trainer Julie Clark following the Belmont Stakes and worked him twice there before heading to Saratoga. Desormeaux worked him twice there but wasn’t satisfied with the works or his gallop-outs.

Exaggerator has been installed as the 5-2 second choice on the Haskell morning line. He drew post 6 and will have Kent Desormeaux aboard.

Nyquist and Exaggerator will have to deal with Gun Runner, the third-place finisher in the Derby. This will be the first time since the Haskell was first run in 1968 that the first three Derby finishers will meet in the 1 1/8-mile race.

Gun Runner, the winner of the Louisiana Derby prior to the Kentucky Derby, tuned up for the Haskell with a fast and easy win in the 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 18. Trainer Steve Asmussen has had him on a six-week race schedule since the March 26 Louisiana Derby.

“He’s progressed for us in the intervals between his races,” Asmussen said. “I think he’s the best he’s been, and he’ll have to be. He’ll be facing the two horses that beat him in the Derby.”

Gun Runner is 4-1 on the line and will start from post 4. Florent Geroux rides.

The other Haskell entrants are American Freedom, Awesome Slew, and Sunny Ridge.

American Freedom is trained by Bob Baffert, who has won the Haskell a record eight times. American Freedom, the winner of the Grade 3 Iowa Derby last out, faces the toughest assignment of his young career. Rafael Bejarano has the mount. American Freedom drew post 5, and his early odds are 3-1.

Awesome Slew, who races for Eddie Plesa Jr., and Sunny Ridge, conditioned by Jason Servis, are both stabled at Monmouth.

Awesome Slew drew post 3 and will have Monmouth’s leading rider, Paco Lopez, up. Awesome Slew is 15-1 on the morning line.

Sunny Ridge is 20-1 and has post 2. Nik Juarez rides.

The Haskell field lost Brody’s Cause on entry day when trainer Dale Romans decided to instead point him to the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer on Aug. 6.