Nyquist Gets First Look at Churchill Downs

Unbeaten champion Nyquist, the clear-cut early favorite for the May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), got his first tour of the main track at Churchill Downs May 1 after arriving from Keeneland April 30. Reddam Racing’s Nyquist jogged on the sloppy surface under clear skies with exercise rider Jonny Garcia aboard and cooled out back at Barn 41.

“Nyquist had a really good morning,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “He just had an easy jog day today, nothing major. He looked good. Jonny said he felt great. He cooled out great. He seems happy, so we’re happy.

“He’s a little bit more in control. He can be strong. We’ve just learned that with him, it is one day jog, one day gallop. He’ll gallop here Tuesday, so we’ll see.”

Nyquist, by leading first-crop sire Uncle Mo  , got in his final pre-Derby work April 29 at Keeneland, working a mile in 1:41 before the day’s first race.

“His work was awesome,” O’Neill said. ”It’s just so nice to have the whole track to yourself. He looked great. There were a lot of people in the stands there and people were yelling his name. (Jockey) Mario Gutierrez flew in to ride him and he was smiling ear to ear after the work and was happy with how he felt and the energy he displayed. He (Nyquist) barely drank any water when he came back to the barn and cooled out super quickly, and that showed to us he was fit and ready to run."

“He shipped over here yesterday on his ‘off’ day,” O’Neill said. “The intention is for today and tomorrow to just to give him everything nice and easy; give him more time to check things out. It’s more mental for today and tomorrow, and we’ll get him out and gallop him Tuesday. He’ll walk through the paddock on Wednesday.”

O’Neill fielded questions at the barn following training hours and was asked about any pre-race nerves. A laid-back O’Neill was asked about having the race favorite, as opposed to the 15-1 I'll Have Another  , who won the Run for the Roses in 2012.

“We’re excited, but the whole team, the whole family here at barn, we’re more at ease,” he said. "Having gotten lucky in 2012, it really taught us that you don’t have to do anything special. Going a mile and a quarter for the first time there is the thought that, ‘Maybe I need to do more with him,’ or gallop him more. And then with all the people here you think, ‘Maybe I need to school him more.’ We decided just to keep the routine up. It worked in 2012, so we’re going to do the same with (Nyquist).

“When you get here in the morning you walk through the shed row with one eye open and one eye closed because anything can happen with these beautiful horses. But as soon as I see (Nyquist’s groom) Elias smiling then I start smiling and I know that Nyquist had eaten up and his legs look good.

“Every trainer, every horse owner, every groom, everyone back here. you realize how precious these guys are; how big they are; how much energy they put into their work. You just have to keep them injury free. If it was a basketball team and somebody got injured, you’d bring another guy in off the bench. Unfortunately we don’t have anybody else to come in off the bench for Nyquist.

"That’s the stressful part—the first few minutes at the barn. But if that goes good, then the rest is icing on the cake for the rest of the morning.”

As for any additional pressure, O’Neill is taking things all in stride.



“You realize just how lucky you are to have an athlete like him who is so mentally tough and so physically tough and have family here like Elias here,” O'Neill said. “His groom is just unbelievable. If any of us were horses, we’d want Elias taking after us. He’s just a gentle soul and a great horseman. Jonny Garcia has ice running through his veins. He’s just so cool and calm and has great hands.

"It’s really exciting. This time we’re just trying to soak it all in. In 2012 it was a little bit of a blur; this time we’re trying to slow it all down and enjoy every bit of it.”