Nyquist works half-mile in preparation for San Vicente

ARCADIA, Calif. - Nyquist, the unbeaten winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 31, worked a half-mile in 48.40 seconds at Santa Anita on Sunday, moving closer to an expected return to racing in February.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said on Sunday that Nyquist is a candidate for the $200,000 San Vicente Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs on Feb. 15 “if everything goes perfect.”

One issue could be an El Nino weather pattern that could bring excessive rain to Southern California in coming months. So far, that has not occurred and rain is not forecast for the next five days.

“The only thing that would be a concern would be El Nino and we miss a couple of weeks of training,” he said.

Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, Nyquist has won five races and earned $1,613,600. He won the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes here in September.

Nyquist worked three furlongs in 37 seconds on Dec. 19 in his first workout since the BC Juvenile.

“He’s a special horse,” O’Neill said. “We’re seeing what we saw prior to the rest.”