Nysos works for Pacific Classic
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Nysos, the easy winner of the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on July 26, was pronounced on schedule for the Grade 1 Pacific Classic on Aug. 30 by trainer Bob Baffert after working five furlongs in a quick 58.80 seconds at Del Mar on Thursday.
A winner of 5 of 6 starts in a disrupted career, Nysos will start at 1 1/4 miles for the first time in the $1 million Pacific Classic, Del Mar’s richest annual race. The winner of the Pacific Classic receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at 1 1/4 miles at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
A 4-year-old colt, Nysos had one of the faster workout times of the morning at five furlongs.
“He went nice,” Baffert said. “I was happy with him.”
Nysos may have another workout of less intensity closer to race day, Baffert said.
“I might blow him out a little bit, nothing serious,” he said.
Owned by Charles and Susan Chu’s Baoma Corp., Nysos has won four graded stakes since November 2023. He started only once in 2024, winning the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile by 7 1/4 lengths that February before he was sidelined for more than a year.
Nysos was beaten for the first time when second by a neck to Mindframe in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes at seven furlongs on May 3 in his 2025 debut. Nysos has proceeded to win his last two starts, including the Grade 3 Triple Bend Stakes by 5 1/2 lengths at seven furlongs at Santa Anita on May 31.
In the Pacific Classic, Nysos’s main rival may be Journalism, the star 3-year-old who won the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on July 19. The partnership that owns Journalism has yet to state his next engagement. Journalism is scheduled to have a workout at Del Mar on Saturday.
Other candidates for the Pacific Classic are Indispensable, Midnight Mammoth, Mirahmadi, and Tarantino.
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