As the sun rose Monday morning, Kentucky Derby favorite Nyquist was allowed to gallop for the first time in more than a week.
"I let him go and I said, 'Have fun out there,'" said Jack Sisterson, assistant to trainer Doug O'Neill. "And he did."
With exercise rider Jonny Garcia aboard, Nyquist jogged a lap and galloped a lap of Keeneland's main track. It was his first gallop since winning the Florida Derby on April 2 to remain unbeaten in seven career starts.
Grade 1, $1,000,690 Santa Anita Derby, 1 1/8 miles, Santa Anita, April 9, 2016
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)
Winner: Exaggerator, by Curlin
Trainer: Keith Desormeaux
Jockey: Kent Desormeaux
Owner: Big Chief Racing LLC, Head of Plains Partners LLC, Rocker O Ranch LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 103
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Outwork, the Wood Memorial winner, and Shagaf, the Wood favorite who finished a troubled fifth in the race, both emerged from their efforts in good order and will make their next starts in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Wood Memorial runner-up Trojan Nation, who remains a maiden, is “for sure” under consideration for the Run for the Roses, trainer Paddy Gallagher said Sunday morning, while the connections of Adventist, the Wood third-place finisher, will likely need some help to get into the race.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Exaggerator and Mor Spirit, the one-two finishers in the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, both came out of the race well and both will head to the Kentucky Derby on May 7, their trainers reported on Sunday morning.
Exaggerator rolled to a 6 1/2-length victory while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 103, the fastest two-turn fig in a Derby prep this year.
His trainer, Keith Desormeaux, said he was “great” on Sunday morning.
If you woke up Sunday morning more confused than ever about the Kentucky Derby picture, take heart. You have a lot of company. A lot.
Of course, there are some who will take the results of Saturday’s three huge Kentucky Derby preps – the Santa Anita Derby, the Blue Grass, and the Wood Memorial – as compelling evidence that when it comes to this Run for the Roses, there is undefeated Nyquist, and then there is everyone else. Hey, they might be right.
ARCADIA, Calif. – The winner’s circle photos had all been taken, everyone was about to walk away, when jockey Kent Desormeaux yelled to the track photographer to take one more.
Holding the Santa Anita Derby trophy, he called over his brother, Keith, and together, with each holding one arm of the trophy, they lifted it aloft.
Click.
If this was something they had dreamed of while running around as kids in Maurice, La., it had now come true in the gloaming of a rainy April day at Santa Anita.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Brody’s Cause took lengthy strides toward the Kentucky Derby when rebounding off a poor 3-year-old debut and posting an emphatic 1 3/4-length victory Saturday under Luis Saez in the 92nd running of the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
My Man Sam was along late to get second by a head over Cherry Wine in the Keeneland spring showcase, while Laoban finished fourth and Zulu, the 2-1 favorite, faded to 12th in a field of 14 3-year-olds. The first- and third-place finishers are trained by Dale Romans.
The unbeaten champion Nyquist returned to the track for the first time since his Florida Derby win on Saturday morning at Keeneland, jogging twice around the main track accompanied by a stable pony.
Due to an elevated white blood cell count earlier in the week, this was the first time Nyquist had been allowed to do more than walk in a week – and thus, he was understandably energetic.
Not to get lost in the wagering shuffle Saturday is all-stakes four offered in conjunction between Keeneland and Aqueduct, linking the Bay Shore, Madison, Wood, and Blue Grass. So let’s take a look at the races and my strategy for playing it.
Post positions for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby will be drawn on Wednesday, and Oaklawn racing secretary Pat Pope was working with a potential list of 11 runners as of Friday. The Arkansas Derby will be run next Saturday.
Pope said the horses on the grounds that he expects to enter in the Arkansas Derby are Whitmore, Luna de Loco, Creator, Gray Sky, Suddenbreakingnews, and Discreetness. Others on the grounds he considers possible are American Pioneer and Dazzling Gem.
