Undefeated Nyquist Arrives at Keeneland

Reddam Racing's Nyquist, winner of the Xpressbet.com Florida Derby (gr. I) the previous day, arrived at Barn 24 at Keeneland April 3 and will train in Lexington in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).

The champion 2-year-old male of 2015 arrived at Keeneland at about 3 p.m. EDT after a flight from South Florida to Blue Grass Airport. He is expected to return to the track the morning of April 6.

Nyquist, trained by Doug O'Neill, is now seven-for-seven with four grade I wins. He will go to the Kentucky Derby off of two starts this year; the first came in the seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes Feb. 15.

"He was very impressive the way he did it and the way he handled himself," O'Neill assistant Jack Sisterson said of the Uncle Mo   colt's Florida Derby win. "It was very humid there in Florida but he handled it well, and his performance showed it. He's a mentally tough horse; the good ones are like that. A lot of the credit goes to (jockey) Mario (Gutierrez)."

Nyquist spent a little time at Keeneland last fall before his victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I). It's a big reason the O'Neill team shipped him there again.

"We just want to keep him sound and happy," Sisterson said. "Keeneland is a great place for a horse to be a horse. That's the reason we brought him here. There's also the synthetic training track. It gives us an option of not missing any training days."

O'Neill returned to his California base late Saturday night and is expected at Keeneland late in the week of April 3. He said Nyquist came out of the Florida Derby in good order.

"Talking to the crew, he looks good and he ate up well," O'Neill said of Nyquist.

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Paul and Zillah Reddam purchased the son of Uncle Mo   the colt for $400,000 13 months ago at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale at Gulfstream, and Fasig-Tipton offered a $1 million bonus if a Florida sale graduate captured Gulfstream's marquee event the following year.

BALAN: Nyquist Scores in San Vicente, Still Unbeaten

"We had this plan from after the Breeders' Cup of what we wanted to do, and it's all unfolding perfectly," O'Neill said.

Together with the owners, as well as jockey Gutierrez, O'Neill won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes (gr. I) with I'll Have Another   in 2012. That experience prepared the California horseman for the challenges Nyquist faces during the duration of his spring campaign.

"It's nothing but great, really," O'Neill said. "It's definitely different with the fact that this guy is undefeated. If it's possible, this might be a touch greater."

Nyquist became the first Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old to capture the Florida Derby since Fly So Free in 1991, and the first Breeders' Cup Juvenile victor to follow up in the Florida Derby since Unbridled's Song in 1996. Now seven-for-seven lifetime, he has earned $2,322,600 on the track for the Reddams.

Watch Nyquist arrive at Keeneland: