| Advertisement |
Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist galloped a mile Friday as he increased his preparations for next Saturday's Preakness Stakes in his Triple Crown bid. "We're very happy," trainer Doug O'Neill told the Baltimore Sun of his undefeated bay colt. "He was much more relaxed early on in his gallop, and then he finished up strong. He's cooling out super, so we're happy with how the morning went."
Advertisement
Nyquist will continue his preparations at Pimlico Race Course with a two-mile jog Saturday morning and then gallop again Sunday, O'Neill said.
Nyquist won last Saturday's 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby in 2:01.31, holding off hard-charging Exaggerator at the wire.
It was the second Derby win for the team of owner J. Paul Reddam, O'Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez. They took I'll Have Another to wins in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2012, but their chance at a Triple Crown was stopped when O'Neill scratched the horse with a tendon injury the morning before the Belmont Stakes.
O'Neill arrived in Baltimore on Thursday after spending most of the week at his home base in California.
O'Neill is following the same plan he used in 2012 with I'll Have Another, bringing Nyquist to Baltimore just two days after the Derby to get accustomed to the Pimlico track and barn.
"We love being here early to settle in and have the track to ourselves pretty much," O'Neill said Thursday.
O'Neill was asked to compare his current champion and I'll Have Another.
"To me, if (Nyquist) was human, he's just a well-dressed, go-to-bed-early, in-the-gym-all-day kind of horse," O'Neill told the Baltimore Sun. "He sleeps a lot and he rests in the stall. He has great energy on the track. I'll Have Another was more of a bulldog, a tough horse and a great horse. But this guy's a little bit more laid back."
Nyquist faces a rematch with Derby runner-up Exaggerator in the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown. Third-place Gun Runner is possible for the 1 3/16-mile test, along with other new challengers. A maximum of 14 horses can run in the Preakness, and post positions will be drawn next Wednesday.
Nyquist is a heavy favorite in the Preakness in his hopes to follow American Pharoah, who ended a 37-year drought of Triple Crown winners last year.
Nyquist, the son of Uncle Mo and named after Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, is 8-for-8 and a possibility to become the second undefeated Triple Crown winner along with Seattle Slew. There has only been one pair of back-to-back Triple Crown winners -- Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978.
O'Neill is hoping to make Nyquist a horse of the people as trainer Bob Baffert did in 2015 with American Pharoah.
"I think Nyquist will get there," O'Neill said. "He's got a lot of that in him. We haven't really thrown him into the deep end of all that love, but as we move forward, and if he stays injury-free, I'm hopeful he can fill those shoes and carry the torch forward -- just getting people to really appreciate these amazing animals."
