Derby winner Nyquist pulls out of Breeders' Cup

Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will miss the Breeders' Cup Classic because of an ankle issue.

Doug O'Neill, the trainer for Nyquist, on Saturday said his horse will not run in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 5 after coming out of Thursday's workout with a puffy ankle.

"He jogs sound and the X-rays are clean," O'Neill said. "But with the timing, he can't make the Classic. We're bummed and sad."

Nyquist's victory in the Kentucky Derby was his eighth in as many starts, but he suffered his first career loss at the hands of Exaggerator in the Preakness Stakes.

As it turns out, the Derby may been Nyquist's final victory. He was scheduled to be retired and go to stud following next weekend's Classic at Santa Anita.

Nyquist capped an undefeated five-race season as a 2-year-old last year with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

He became the first unbeaten horse to win the Kentucky Derby since Seattle Slew in 1977, outlasting Exaggerator by 1 1/4 lengths in the Run for the Roses.

Exaggerator extracted revenge in the Preakness over Nyquist, who faded to third and then had to skip the Belmont Stakes -- the third leg of the Triple Crown -- after he ran a fever of more than 102.

Nyquist struggled in two subsequent starts this year, finishing fourth in the Haskell Invitational on July 31 and sixth in the Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 24 in what appears to have been his final race.